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A Systematic Review of Psychological and Psychosocial Factors Protective Against Suicidal Ideation and Suicide in the Elderly
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Nikan Zarrabian   , Naser Dehghanpour * |
| Master of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran. |
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Abstract: (20 Views) |
Introduction: Today, suicide among the elderly is a major public health issue in many countries. However, there is limited understanding of the factors that can protect against suicide. This review was conducted with the aim of identifying and evaluating psychological and psychosocial factors that protect against suicide.
Methods: The present systematic review was conducted in Farvardin 1404 using the search engines SID, Magiran, Sciencedirect, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science. The keywords Suicide, old, elderly, Protective factors and their Persian equivalents were used in relation to Iranian elderly suicide. The quality of the articles was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool with Diverse Studies (QuADSs). PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews) were followed. 33 articles were included and combined narratively.
Results: A total of 33 studies were retained for review. The most important factors of suicidal ideation and suicide were mental disorders, depression, loneliness, hopelessness, family factors, aimlessness, amotivation, interpersonal cognitive distortions, positive and negative affect, perceived social support, and stressors and low resilience. The identified protective factors were purpose in life, life satisfaction, meaning in life, having questions about life, psychological well-being, well-being and quality of life, satisfaction with current circumstances, personality factors such as resilience, cognitive function and sense of belonging, perceived control, coping, religiosity, hope, self-regulation, sense of belonging, importance, positive relationships, social support, social connection, and social participation. The factors that had the most empirical support were suicidal ideation, which was the main outcome measure of about 87%.
Conclusion: Suicidal ideation was the main outcome measure of about 87%. Consistently significant associations were observed between all protective factors and reduced suicidal ideation or behavior, particularly for purpose in life, resilience, and positive relationships, suggesting that these are strong components of suicide prevention. Using scales to measure protective factors (e.g., life satisfaction) rather than a single item was more effective in capturing associations. On the other hand, results were similar whether studies used subjective (e.g., sense of belonging) or objective (e.g., social connectedness) measures. |
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| Keywords: Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempt, Suicide Prevalence, Suicide Protective Factors, Aging, Review |
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Type of Study: Review |
Subject:
elderly social issues
Received: 2025/05/30 | Accepted: 2025/10/10 | Published: 2025/10/10
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Zarrabian N, Dehghanpour N. A Systematic Review of Psychological and Psychosocial Factors Protective Against Suicidal Ideation and Suicide in the Elderly. joge 2025; 10 (3) URL: http://joge.ir/article-1-765-en.html
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