Abstract:

Suicidal behaviors include suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt and suicide. In China, suicide rate has been significantly declined during the past decade, especially that for females. But the rural elderly residents are high risk groups. The risk factors for suicidal behaviors include biological factors, mental disorders and psychological factors. The psychological factors include vulnerable factor, maladjusted cognition and psychache. Accumulation and interaction of these factors increase suicidal risk. These theoretical models try to explain suicidal behavior beyond mental disorders. Now researchers pay attention to the process of suicidal behaviors and the mechanism of suicidal behaviors. Future research should focus on the transition between ideation and action, improvement of methods and local research.

Key words: suicidal behavior, psychopathological behavior, epidemiology, mental disorder, biological factor, psychological factor