What character strengths are protective factors for suicidal ideation?: A cross-sectional study in Japan

ABSTRACT

One factor that has been studied as a protective factor for suicide is character strength and there are many studies that examined the relationship between gratitude and suicide. The problem of character strength research on suicide prevention is that the link between various character strengths and suicide has not been comprehensively examined. We explored which character strength is associated with suicidal ideation. The study is a cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire survey. Participants were 2,000 Internet users in Japan aged 20 years or older. The online survey covered suicidal ideation, character strengths and demographic details. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed with the suicidal ideation as the dependent variable and character strengths as the independent variable. A significant regression equation was found (F (22, 1977) = 64.65, P < 0.001), with an R² of 0.42. ‘Engagement’ (B = −0.38, P < 0.001), ‘Love’ (B = −0.33, P = 0.001), and ‘Risk-taking’ (B = 0.40, P < 0.001) were significant predictors of suicidal ideation. The positive trait of being able to actively engage with people and build a loving relationship could be a protective factor for suicide.

KEYWORDS:

• Suicide prevention
• suicidal ideation
• character strengths
• protective factor for suicide
• positive psychology

Acknowledgments

There are no conflicts of interest to declare. This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI(Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists), Grant Number 18K13358. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the JSPS KAKENHI(Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists) [18K13358].