Employment Status, Mental Health Problems and Suicidal Ideation Among Higher Educated Youth in Kolkata City: A Gendered Perspective

Background: Suicide is a public health problem and an important indicator of severe mental ill-health. Thus, identifying risk factors for suicidal ideation is a public health priority. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the role employment status, mental health problems on suicidal ideation among youth in the Kolkata City. Data and Methods: Four hundred higher educated youth (21-35years) were surveyed for study purpose. Measures included socio-demographics, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and suicidal ideation. Descriptive, SEM and logistic regression analyses were carried out to assess the relationship between employment status, mental health problems and suicidal ideation. Results: The overall suicidal ideation was 37.92% among the study population. Women have comparatively more suicidal thoughts than the men. Unemployed youth were more likely to report of having suicidal ideation than the employed youth with reaching statistical significance (53.54% vs 9.93%; χ2= 73.2, p=.000). Compared to employed, unemployed individuals had 0.41 higher units of reporting suicidal thoughts (b = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.26 - 0.56). Poor mental health was also significantly associated with suicidal thoughts. One unit increase in latent variable of mental health was associated with 0.07 unit increase in reporting suicidal thoughts (b = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.06 - 0.09). Conclusion: The findings showed poorer psychological health among higher educated unemployed youth which leads to more suicidal feelings than the employed youth. Results of the study suggest the need for primary prevention strategies among those out of the labour market, especially during times of economic hardship.

Keywords: Employment status, Mental Health Problems, Suicidal ideation, Youth