The Relationship between Ideation of Suicide and Demographic Information Among Gifted High School Students of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Suicide ideation among adolescents all over the world has assumed an alarming dimension. It has become so worrisome that it has gained prominence in social discourse. Nevertheless, little is known about the ideation of suicide among gifted students. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between ideation of suicide and demographic information (gender, family status, academic stress, depression, self-esteem, and hopelessness). The study employed a quantitative research design. 210 gifted high school students in 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th grades from Asir province in Saudi Arabia were sampled using random stratified sampling (110 Male, and 100 females). The collected data were analysed using SPSS 23.0 by analysing t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient tests. The students showed a low mean score of ideations of suicide and depression. Moreover, the findings showed that there is no significant difference between male and female students (P>0.05). However, the ANOVA test results showed that there is no correlation between students’ gender, family level, and self-esteem and ideation of suicide. Moreover, there is a low (r = 0.10-0.15) but not significant (P>0.05) relationship between hopelessness and ideation of suicide. On the other hand, depression and academic stress demonstrated a medium association with ideation of suicide (r = 0.30-0.49). 12^th-grade students showed the highest level of depression and academic stress. The study implicates that a specialized program is needed to reduce the suicidal thoughts of gifted students. This study contributes to the limited literature investigating the ideation of suicide among gifted students.