attitudes toward suicide: a comparison between urban and rural dwellers in ghana

introduction: appropriate attitudes toward suicide (atts) is key to preventing suicide, a major mental health challenge worldwide. hence, this study examined the differences between urban and rural dwellers on atts (in total and across the subscales – principal attitude (suicide as a right), representations of intentionality, tabooing, preventability of suicide, and knowledge (myths about suicide). methods: a cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. a convenient sampling technique was used to select 400 respondents from urban (n = 200) and rural (n = 200) areas. a questionnaire packet comprising a self-designed demographic section and valid atts scale was used for the data collection from respondents (urban and rural dwellers). descriptive (frequency and percentages) and inferential (independent t-test) statistics were used to analyze the data using spss software. p 0.05 was considered statistically significant. results: both urban and rural dwellers were found to have negative atts with urban dwellers (131.40 ± 10.75) having significantly more negative atts (p = 0.000) than rural dwellers (118.59 ± 13.62). furthermore, urban dwellers were found to have significantly more negative attitudes toward principal attitude (suicide as a right), representations of intentionality, tabooing, preventability of suicide, and knowledge (myths about suicide) than rural dwellers (p = 0.000). conclusion: settings influence atts such that urban dwellers have become more informed and more prepared to help prevent suicide compared with their rural counterparts.