Open AccessFinancial distress and suicidal behaviour during COVID-19: Family identification attenuates the negative relationship between COVID-related financial distress and mental Ill-health
Author(s) -
Clifford Stevenson,
Juliet R. H. Wakefield
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1461-7277
pISSN - 1359-1053
DOI - 10.1177/13591053211014597
Subject(s) - loneliness , suicidal ideation , mental health , distress , social isolation , psychology , psychiatry , depression (economics) , covid-19 , psychological resilience , clinical psychology , suicide prevention , social support , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , social psychology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
COVID-19 provides a ‘perfect storm’ of social and economic suicide risk-factors. Recent research has evidenced an initial impact of the pandemic upon suicide rates, but has yet to understand how elevated financial threat and social isolation may predict suicide ideation/behaviour, or which social factors promote resilience. This study addressed these shortcomings. An online longitudinal survey study ( N = 370) which took place from May to September 2020 showed COVID-related financial distress predicts suicidal thoughts and behaviour via increased depression and loneliness. Family identification attenuates these relationships. Our findings reaffirm the importance of social factors in reducing mental ill-health outcomes of economic crises.