Relationship between suicidal ideation and frequency of alcohol consumption in university students

Abstract

Alcohol consumption may influence the mental health of young people, which in turn may increase the risk of suicidal ideation. The objective was to relate suicidal ideation to the frequency of alcohol consumption in young university students. The study was framed at the relational level and was observational, prospective, cross-sectional and analytical. The research population consisted of 285 young university students, using non-probabilistic convenience sampling. The Beck Suicidal Ideation Scale (BSSI) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) were applied. A correlational statistical analysis was performed using Pearson's r coefficient. As results, the sample consisted mainly of women, of middle socioeconomic level, with one child, unemployed, living with their family and studying medicine most of the sample did not seem to have significant problems with alcohol according to this test. However, about 20 % presented some level of risk, so targeted interventions could be recommended for this subgroup. There was a correlation of 0.381 between the AUDIT and BSSI tests (moderate). It was concluded that the results obtained through statistical analysis in SPSS indicated a moderate correlation between AUDIT test scores and Beck's Suicidal Ideation. This suggests that, although there is an association between the frequency of alcohol consumption and suicidal ideation, alcohol consumption is not a determining factor in the presence of suicidal ideation.