Suicidality in the Arab World: Results from an Online Screener

Abstract

Suicide in the Arab World is grossly understudied. This study sought to understand suicidality among Arabic-speaking individuals visiting an online depression screener. A large sample (N = 23,201) from the Arab World was recruited online. 78.9% (n = 17,042) reported suicidality (thoughts of death or suicide, or a suicide attempt) and 12.4% reported a suicide attempt in the past 2 weeks. Binary logistic regressions indicated that women tended to report more suicidality, and that suicidality tended to decline with age (all ps < 0.001), across all levels of suicidality. Comparing countries with n ≥ 1000 (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia), several 3-way (gender * age * country) and 2-way interactions indicated that some countries departed from the usual pattern of responses. For instance, in Algeria, neither gender nor age differences were observed in reported attempts. Women and younger adults in the Arab World may be at higher risk of suicidality. Differences between and within countries warrant further exploration.