Abstract:

Objective To investigate the prevalence of suicide ideation and relationship between suicide ideation and personality characteristics among freshmen of  medical schools. Methods Questionnaire survey was conducted in 675 freshmen selected with random cluster sampling from 8 majors of grade 2007 of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. The general conditions (gender, age, major and registered permanent residence) were investigated, Cattells 16 Personality Factor (16PF) Questionnaire was completed, and main personality characteristics for suicide ideation were screened with univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression model. Results Nine freshmen (1.33%) had suicide ideation, and the other 666 did not have suicide ideation. There was no significant difference in gender, major and registered permanent residence between freshmen with suicide ideation and those without (P>0.05). The scores of 5 factors of intelligence, emotional stability, rule-consciousness, mental health and professional success in freshmen with suicide ideation were significantly lower than those in freshmen without suicide ideation (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while the scores of 4 factors of vigilance, apprehensiveness, tension and environmental adaptation in freshmen with suicide ideation were significantly higher than those in freshmen without suicide ideation (P<0.01). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that personality characteristics of intelligence and emotional stability were negatively related to suicide ideation （β=－0.46，P=0.04；β=－0.23，P=0.02）, and personality characteristic of vigilance was positively related to suicide ideation (β=0.30，P=0.02). Conclusion The personality characteristic of vigilance may be a risk factor, and personality characteristics of intelligence and emotional stability may be protective factors of suicide ideation of freshmen in medical schools.

Key words: suicide ideation, personality, college student