Table 1.
Suicidal Ideation Frequency by Sample Characteristics (N = 4,693)a.
| Characteristic | Overall Total n (% of total sample) | 30-day frequency of suicidal ideation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None (n = 3,807) n (row %) | A little of the time (n = 507) n (row %) | Some of the time (n = 264) n (row %) | Most of the time or all or almost all of the time (n = 115) n (row %) | ||
| Gender | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| Male | 1,628 (34.69) | 1,385 (85.07) | 145 (8.91) | 68 (4.18) | 30 (1.84) |
| Female | 2,959 (63.05) | 2,356 (79.62) | 341 (11.52) | 182 (6.15) | 80 (2.70) |
| Otherb | 106 (2.26) | 66 (62.26) | 21 (19.81) | 14 (13.21) | 5 (4.72) |
| Age | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| 18 or younger | 502 (10.70) | 385 (76.69) | 55 (10.96) | 37 (7.37) | 25 (4.98) |
| 19 | 609 (12.98) | 468 (76.85) | 71 (11.66) | 46 (7.55) | 24 (3.94) |
| 20 | 563 (12.00) | 447 (79.40) | 70 (12.43) | 37 (6.57) | 9 (1.60) |
| 21 | 493 (10.51) | 383 (77.69) | 62 (12.58) | 34 (6.90) | 14 (2.84) |
| 22 | 410 (8.74) | 333 (81.22) | 43 (10.49) | 27 (6.59) | 7 (1.71) |
| 23 | 298 (6.35) | 246 (82.55) | 31 (10.40) | 14 (4.70) | 7 (2.35) |
| 24 | 251 (5.35) | 197 (78.49) | 29 (11.55) | 21 (8.37) | 4 (1.59) |
| 25 or older | 1,567 (33.39) | 1,348 (86.02) | 146 (9.32) | 48 (3.06) | 25 (1.60) |
| Type of communication participant responded to | ** | ** | ** | ** | |
| Initial survey | 3,821 (81.42) | 3,056 (79.98) | 440 (11.52) | 225 (5.89) | 100 (2.62) |
| Hard to reach with phone | 750 (15.98) | 645 (86.00) | 58 (7.73) | 34 (4.53) | 13 (1.73) |
| Hard to reach without phone | 122 (2.60) | 106 (86.89) | 9 (7.38) | 5 (4.10) | 2 (1.64) |
| Lifetime depression without 30-day depression? | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| No | 4,073 (86.79) | 3,210 (78.81) | 488 (11.98) | 260 (6.38) | 115 (2.82) |
| Yes | 620 (13.21) | 597 (96.29) | 19 (3.06) | 4 (0.65) | 0 (0.00) |
| Any current depression? | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| No | 1,704 (36.31) | 1,659 (97.36) | 39 (2.29) | 5 (0.29) | 1 (0.06) |
| Yes | 2,989 (63.69) | 2,148 (71.86) | 468 (15.66) | 259 (8.67) | 114 (3.81) |
| Lifetime anxiety without any 30-day anxiety? | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| No | 3,918 (83.49) | 3,078 (78.56) | 471 (12.02) | 256 (6.53) | 113 (2.88) |
| Yes | 775 (16.51) | 729 (94.06) | 36 (4.65) | 8 (1.03) | 2 (0.26) |
| Any current anxiety? | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| No | 1,432 (30.51) | 1,360 (94.97) | 57 (3.98) | 10 (0.70) | 5 (0.35) |
| Yes | 3,261 (69.49) | 2,447 (75.04) | 450 (13.80) | 254 (7.79) | 110 (3.37) |
| Had the COVID-19 pandemic affect their emotional wellbeing? | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| No | 729 (15.53) | 655 (89.85) | 45 (6.17) | 19 (2.61) | 10 (1.37) |
| Yes, but they were able to manage it | 2,375 (50.61) | 2,043 (86.02) | 217 (9.14) | 87 (3.66) | 28 (1.18) |
| Yes, they are overwhelmed and couldn't/can't find help | 594 (12.66) | 335 (56.40) | 110 (18.52) | 97 (16.33) | 52 (8.75) |
| Yes, they are overwhelmed but were/are able to get help | 995 (21.20) | 774 (77.79) | 135 (13.57) | 61 (6.13) | 25 (2.51) |
| Type of student | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| 1st year undergraduate | 670 (14.28) | 518 (77.31) | 77 (11.49) | 44 (6.57) | 31 (4.63) |
| 2nd year undergraduate | 709 (15.11) | 554 (78.14) | 79 (11.14) | 53 (7.48) | 23 (3.24) |
| 3rd year undergraduate | 820 (17.47) | 644 (78.54) | 105 (12.80) | 56 (6.83) | 15 (1.83) |
| 4th year undergraduate | 655 (13.96) | 523 (79.85) | 78 (11.91) | 38 (5.80) | 16 (2.44) |
| Graduate | 1,284 (27.36) | 1,098 (85.51) | 112 (8.72) | 51 (3.97) | 23 (1.79) |
| Other | 555 (11.83) | 470 (84.68) | 56 (10.09) | 22 (3.96) | 7 (1.26) |
| Ethnicity | * | * | * | * | |
| White | 1,762 (37.55) | 1,482 (84.11) | 166 (9.42) | 79 (4.48) | 35 (1.99) |
| First Nations, Inuit or Métis | 143 (3.05) | 115 (80.42) | 20 (13.99) | 6 (4.20) | 2 (1.40) |
| Chinese | 1,288 (27.45) | 1,022 (79.35) | 152 (11.80) | 79 (6.13) | 35 (2.72) |
| Non-Indigenous or Chinese Visible Minority | 1,500 (31.96) | 1,188 (79.20) | 169 (11.27) | 100 (6.67) | 43 (2.87) |
| Housing type | ** | ** | ** | ** | |
| With parents or other relatives | 1,899 (40.46) | 1,499 (78.94) | 217 (11.43) | 128 (6.74) | 55 (2.90) |
| In their own home or apartment (owned or rented) | 1,320 (28.13) | 1,124 (85.15) | 119 (9.02) | 54 (4.09) | 23 (1.74) |
| In a university owned or operated residence or fraternity | 680 (14.49) | 542 (79.71) | 77 (11.32) | 44 (6.47) | 17 (2.50) |
| In a shared house, apartment or flat | 727 (15.49) | 584 (80.33) | 91 (12.52) | 35 (4.81) | 17 (2.34) |
| Other | 67 (1.43) | 58 (86.57) | 3 (4.48) | 3 (4.48) | 3 (4.48) |
| Lifetime suicide plan? | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| No | 3,611 (76.94) | 3,214 (89.01) | 264 (7.31) | 101 (2.80) | 32 (0.89) |
| Yes | 1,082 (23.06) | 593 (54.81) | 243 (22.46) | 163 (15.06) | 83 (7.67) |
| Lifetime suicide attempt? | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| No | 4,412 (94.01) | 3,673 (83.25) | 443 (10.04) | 217 (4.92) | 79 (1.79) |
| Yes | 281 (5.99) | 134 (47.69) | 64 (22.78) | 47 (16.73) | 36 (12.81) |
*p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001; Both Chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests were used where the cell counts are small. These are testing for an overall association.
aOnly significant results are shown, see complete table in Appendix.
b“Other” gender is defined as a gender identity different than sex at birth. While there are many subgroups within this, they have been collapsed for the purpose of this analysis due to small cell counts.