The Relationship between Religion and Suicide Risk among the Filipino Youth: A study using a nationally representative sample

With the use of a nationally- representative sample of Filipino youth ages 15 to 27, this study applied a sociological lens in order to look into the relationship between religious variables and suicide risk. Four theories in Sociological Suicidology were utilized. These are Durkheim’s classical theory on suicide, Masaryk’s theory on suicide and religion, Stack’s Religious Commitment theory, and Pescosolido’s Religious Network theory. Correlational tests were conducted between 13 religious variables (8 of which pertain to personal dimensions of a person’s religiosity, and the remaining 5 pertain to social dimensions of a person’s religiosity) and two variables of suicide risk: suicide ideation and suicide attempt. Results made salient the importance of the following variables as factors that are associated with higher or lower risks of suicide: (1) change in religion, (2) family- and peer-mediated religious involvement, and (3) specific religious beliefs. The study was able to provide viable points of inquiry for future studies looking into the relationship of religious belief and suicide risk. Of particular importance also is the study’s realization of the limitation of pure quantitative survey research in understanding suicide and religion – two very nuanced social facts that strains the limits of pure quantitative approach and highlights the necessity of a synergistic mixed-methods approach that also features more in-depth, qualitative inquiries among the religious and non-religious and their susceptibility to suicide ideation and suicide attempts.

Keywords: Suicide, Suicide Ideation, Suicide Attempt, Religion, Religiosity