Depression and Suicidal Ideation among Older Adults of Kashmir

The present study was undertaken to map the ground trends of depression and suicidal ideation among elderly Kashmiris in association with connected socio-demographic variables and also to find the relationship of depression with suicidal ideation. The sample consisted of 184 older adults (102 elderly males & 82 elderly females) taken from different districts of Kashmir. The age of the sample group ranged from 58-76 years with mean age of 67 years. Purposive sampling technique was used for research purpose. Aaron Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI-II 1996) and Beck & Steer’s Suicide Ideation scale (BSSI 1991) was used. T-test was used to test the significance of difference in depression and suicidal ideation between various groups and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was used to determine the relationship between depression and suicidal ideation. The findings of the present study revealed that there is no significant mean difference in the depression level of older adults with respect to various socio-demographic variables. Further, the findings of the present study reveal that there is significant mean difference in the suicidal ideation of educated and uneducated elderly as is true for rural and urban older adults. However, no significant mean difference was found in suicidal ideation of male & female older adults and also no significant mean difference was found in the suicidal ideation of those elderly whose spouse are alive and those who are widowed. Results further reveal that depression has significant positive correlation with suicidal ideation indicating that depression acts as risk factor for suicidal ideation.