Is Religiosity a Protective Factor Against Attempted Suicide: a Cross-Cultural Case-Control Study

This cross-cultural study investigated whether religiosity assessed in 3 dimensions has a protective effect against attempted suicide. Community controls were more likely than suicide attempters to report religious denomination in Estonia & subjective religiosity in 4 countries; Brazil, Estonia, Islamic Republic of Iran, & Sri Lanka. In South Africa, the effect was exceptional both for religious denomination & subjective religiosity. No effects were found in India & Vietnam. Organizational religiosity gave controversial results. Subjective religiosity may serve as a protective factor against non-fatal suicidal behaviour in some cultures. (39 refs.)