Predictive Power of Gender-Based Violence on Suicidal Ideation Among Female Students in Universities in North-East, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the predictive power of gender-based violence (sexual and physical violence) on suicidal ideation among female students in universities in North-East, Nigeria. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a correlation survey research design. The population of the study comprised 11,988 female students in universities in North-East, Nigeria. 450 female students randomly selected from the population were used as sample. Gender-Based Violence Questionnaire (GBVQ) and Suicide Screening Questionnaire- Self-Rating (SSQ- SR) were used in collecting data for the study. Using Cronbach's Alpha reliability test, a reliability index of 0.95 and 0.82 were obtained for GBVQ and SSQ- SR respectively. Linear regression was used to answer the two research questions. In testing the hypotheses, t-test associated with linear regression was used to test the two hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant predictive power of sexual violence on suicidal ideation among female students in universities. It was also revealed that there is a significant predictive power of physical violence on suicidal ideation among female students in universities. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that universities' managements should offer resources and referrals for female students struggling with suicidal ideation as a result of sexual violence.