Longitudinal association of individual and household social capital with suicidal ideation: A multilevel analysis in South Korea

Introduction: Social capital has been shown to operate as a protective factor for suicide-related behaviors. However, empirical studies that considered social capital at the individual and household levels and investigated their longitudinal association with suicide-related behaviors using a multilevel framework have received little attention to date. To fill this gap, the objectives of the current study were to examine: how much of the variance in suicidal ideation could be attributed to the household level and to examine the longitudinal association between social capital at the individual and household levels and suicidal ideation using a nationally representative sample of South Korea. Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS). Data for wave 13 (2018) and wave 14 (2019) of the KOWEPS were combined to generate a longitudinal dataset. The final sample for this study includes 10,490 respondents within 6,135 households. A series of multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: The results showed that 30.49% of respondents’ variance in suicidal ideation was attributed to the household level. At the individual level, trust (OR=0.70, 95% CI=0.56, 0.86) and reciprocity (OR=0.63, 95% CI=0.50, 0.79) were inversely associated with suicidal ideation. At the household level, trust (OR=0.92, 95% CI=0.85, 0.98) and reciprocity (OR= 0.90, 95% CI=0.84, 0.96) were negatively associated with suicidal ideation, while volunteering did not show a clear relationship with suicidal ideation both at the individual and household levels. Discussion: In conclusion, this study provides evidence that a relatively large proportion of the variance in ideation could be attributed to the household level, indicating the importance of considering the household context to better understand an individual’s suicidal ideation. It further provides evidence that some components of social capital could reduce suicide risks.