Do the Relative Importance and Pattern of Correlates of Suicidal Ideation Vary by Age and Gender? Network Analyses

Abstract

This study examined age- and gender-related differences in correlates of suicidal ideation (SI) and their interrelationships. We used data from a nationally representative sample of adults aged 19 years or older who participated in the 2021 Korea Welfare Panel Study (N = 10,364). We examined six networks of SI and its sociodemographic, physical health, and psychological correlates by age (young, 19–39 years; middle-aged, 40–64 years; and old, over 65 years old) and by gender. Depression, subjective well-being (SWB), and self-esteem were the key SI correlates across all groups. Depression had the strongest direct associations with SI in all groups (edge weights: 0.23 in old women to 1.00 in middle-aged men). SWB was directly associated with SI in middle-aged men (−0.26), middle-aged women (0.27), and old women (−0.37). Self-esteem was indirectly related to SI through depression and SWB. Age- and gender-specific correlates included chronic illness for young women, job satisfaction and subjective physical health for middle-aged women, and family relationship satisfaction for older men and women, each showing stronger associations with SI than other correlates within their respective groups. Suicide prevention efforts may benefit from addressing both common and age- and gender-specific correlates of SI.