Will culture influence coping strategies, psychological well-being, and suicidal ideation?: A comparison between USA and Taiwanese college students

Abstract

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students in the U.S. and is preventable. Approximately 1100 college students die by suicide each year in USA. In Taiwan, youth suicide rate were 4.4 per 100,000 population in 1994 and increased to 6.21 per 100,000 population in 2004. Therefore, college students' psychological well-being and suicidal ideation are important issues to explore. The purpose of this study was to compare the differences between USA and Taiwanese college students' anxiety, depression, coping strategies, spiritual well-being, psychological well-being, and suicidal ideation.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> This study was based on Madeleine Leininger's culture theory. This theory indicates culture care diversity and university. Culture includes values, beliefs, norms, and lifeways. There were 46 USA college students and 60 Taiwanese college students recruited from American and Taiwanese universities. The mean age of USA students was 22.13 years and 50% were male. The mean age of Taiwanese students was 19.77 years, 31.7% male, and 68.3% female. A descriptive, cross-sectional research design was used. Data on college students' anxiety, depression, coping strategies, spiritual well-being, psychological well-being, and suicidal ideation were collected using structured questionnaires.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> The findings indicated that there were statistical significant differences between USA and Taiwanese college students' anxiety, depression, coping strategies, spiritual well-being, psychological well-being, and suicidal ideation. Taiwanese students had higher level of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. USA students had higher level of spiritual well-being and psychological well-being. Compared with Taiwanese students' coping strategies, USA students had a higher score at problem-focused disengagement and lower scores at both emotion-focused engagement and emotion-focused disengagement.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> It is vital to assess college students' anxiety, depression, coping strategies, spiritual well-being and psychological well-being in order to prevent their suicidal ideation. There is a limitation in the generalizability because of the small sample size.</p>