ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study was done to investigate the factors that influence non-combat soldiers' suicidal ideation. METHODS: The participants of survey were 302 of soldiers in Y and H city. The data were collected from Aug. 5 to 8, 2008 in H city and Oct. 25 to 30, 2009 in Y city. The instruments were the SRI (Stress Response Inventory) developed by Ko, Park, & Kim (2000), SDS (Self-Rating Depression Scale), developed by Zung (1965) and SSI (Scale for Suicidal Ideation) developed by Beck (1979). The data were analyzed using SPSS 12.0. RESULTS: The mean score for the SRI, SDS and SSI were 15.71+/-19.81, 32.02+/-9.67 and 1.34+/-2.74 respectively. There were positive correlations between the SRI and SDS (r=.763), SRI and SSI (r=.583), SDS and SSI (r=.575). Stress, depression, age, and educational level accounted for 41% of the variance in suicidal ideation. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicates that soldiers' suicidal ideation is related to stress, depression, age, and educational level and that there is a need to develop programs which focus on stress and depression management.