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Impact of Suicide Awareness Programmes on Suicide Prevention Attitudes among University Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Suicide is an important public health concern among young people, including university students, and may have serious consequences for individuals, families, educational institutions, and communities. University students may experience academic pressure, financial difficulties, relationship problems, social isolation, uncertainty about employment, substance use, and other stressors that can contribute to psychological distress and increase vulnerability to suicide-related behaviours. Despite the importance of suicide prevention, misconceptions, stigma, fear of discussing suicide, limited knowledge of available support services, and negative attitudes toward help-seeking may hinder effective prevention efforts. Suicide awareness programmes provide an opportunity to improve students' understanding of suicide risk, warning signs, protective factors, appropriate help-seeking, available support services, and the importance of responding compassionately to individuals experiencing psychological distress. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of suicide awareness programmes on suicide prevention attitudes among university students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Social Ecological Model. The Health Belief Model explains how students' perceptions of suicide risk, perceived severity, perceived benefits of suicide prevention activities, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence their attitudes toward suicide prevention and help-seeking. The Theory of Planned Behavior emphasizes the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and behavioural intentions on suicide prevention-related behaviours. The Social Ecological Model recognizes the influence of individual, interpersonal, institutional, community, cultural, and healthcare-system factors on suicide prevention attitudes and practices. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how suicide awareness programmes may influence suicide prevention attitudes among university students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate students enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select states, universities, faculties, departments, and eligible students. Suicide awareness programmes will be measured using indicators such as exposure to structured suicide awareness activities, programme frequency, duration, educational content, awareness of suicide warning signs, risk factors, protective factors, help-seeking information, stigma-reduction messages, crisis-support information, peer-support education, information on university counselling services, referral pathways, communication channels, and accessibility of programme materials. Suicide prevention attitudes will be assessed using indicators such as willingness to discuss suicide-related concerns, acceptance of individuals experiencing suicidal distress, attitudes toward professional help-seeking, willingness to encourage peers to seek help, perceived importance of suicide prevention, confidence in supporting distressed peers, attitudes toward counselling services, rejection of stigmatizing beliefs, willingness to participate in prevention activities, and attitudes toward appropriate referral and crisis support. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires and validated suicide prevention attitude or stigma-related instruments administered before and after the awareness intervention where a quasi-experimental design is used. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, exposure to suicide awareness programmes, baseline attitudes, and post-intervention attitudes. Inferential statistical techniques, including paired or independent sample tests, chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of suicide awareness programmes on suicide prevention attitudes. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that suicide awareness programmes have a significant positive impact on suicide prevention attitudes among university students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured suicide awareness programmes are expected to demonstrate more supportive attitudes toward suicide prevention, mental health help-seeking, peer support, and early intervention than students without similar exposure or compared with their baseline attitudes. Awareness programmes may reduce stigma and misconceptions surrounding suicide and encourage students to view suicide prevention as a shared responsibility involving students, families, universities, healthcare professionals, and the wider community. Increased awareness may also improve students' willingness to discuss mental health concerns, encourage distressed peers to seek professional assistance, and support the development of more compassionate responses to individuals experiencing psychological distress. Programmes delivered through university counselling centres, orientation programmes, student organizations, peer education, social media, lectures, seminars, and campus health services may provide accessible opportunities for suicide prevention awareness. However, cultural and religious beliefs, stigma, fear of disclosure, concerns about confidentiality, inadequate mental health services, limited access to trained professionals, and misconceptions about suicide may influence the effectiveness of awareness programmes. The study therefore expects sustained, culturally sensitive, evidence-based, and appropriately delivered suicide awareness programmes to contribute significantly to improved suicide prevention attitudes among university students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on suicide awareness programmes, suicide prevention attitudes, university student mental health, suicide prevention, mental health literacy, stigma reduction, help-seeking, peer support, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Universities Commission, university administrators, student affairs departments, counselling centres, university health services, psychologists, psychiatrists, public health practitioners, student organizations, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening suicide prevention among university students. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating suicide awareness into university orientation and student health programmes, strengthening campus counselling and mental health services, developing peer-support initiatives, improving referral pathways, reducing stigma, enhancing crisis-support information, and establishing sustainable suicide prevention programmes across universities in Nigeria.

Keywords: Suicide awareness programmes, suicide prevention attitudes, university students, suicide prevention, mental health awareness, help-seeking, stigma reduction, peer support, student mental health, campus mental health, Nigeria, public health.