The Interactive Effect of Social Capital and Duration of Migration on Suicidal Behaviors Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: Evidence from a GIS/GPS-Assisted Probability Sample

Suicide for rural-to-urban migrants in China presents a challenge. Social capital as a modifiable factor is associated with suicidal behaviors at different levels for different populations. This study focuses on the social capital–suicidal behavior relationship among rural migrants with detailed social capital measures and their interaction with migration duration. Data were collected from a rural migrant sample in Wuhan, China. Outcome variable was reported suicidal ideation and attempts in the past 12 months. Social capital was measured using the Personal Social Capital Scale. Year of migration was measured as the number of years a subject migrated to the city. Multivariate logistic regression (coefficients [95%CIs]) was used for data analysis. Time of crossover for interaction was estimated as the year when the effect of social capital on a suicidal behavior revered from negative to positive. Study findings show a negative association between social capital and suicidal ideation (− 1.48 [− 2.86, − 0.10]), but the association was not significant for suicidal attempts (− 1.30 [− 2.68, 0.08]) after considering the positive interaction between social capital and year of migration (0.11 [0.03, 0.19] for ideation and 0.11 [0.02, 0.19] for attempts). Similar effects were found for detailed social capital measures. The estimated time of crossover ranged from 7.0 to 14.8 years for different social capital measures. The findings of this study confirm the protective relationship between social capital and suicidal behaviors in the early years of migration among rural migrants. Following these findings, suicide prevention among rural migrants should consider social capital during the first 7 to 15 years of migration.