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<p>Suicide remains a critical global mental health challenge, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries where access to formal mental health services is limited. In such contexts, including sub-Saharan Africa, individuals in crisis often turn first to faith leaders. Clergy frequently encounter suicidal crises and serve as initial points of contact, yet there is little empirical evidence on their comfort or competence in responding to such crises. Our study examined clergy’s self-reported comfort and competence in handling suicidal crises, thereby addressing a critical gap in understanding clergy’s readiness for frontline suicide prevention in Nigeria. Participants were 253 Catholic clergy (all Black men; ages 27–72, <i>M</i> = 44.58, <i>SD</i> = 9.95) who completed a questionnaire form during monthly recollections and annual retreats for priests in eight Nigerian dioceses between June and October 2024. All participants reported having intervened in cases of suicidal thoughts or attempts. An ordinal logistic regression was applied for the data analysis. Findings indicated that roughly 40% felt comfortable or very comfortable and about 50% felt competent or very competent during the interventions. Findings showed that clergy who felt more comfortable were 2.34 times more likely to feel competent, after adjusting for age, years of experience in priestly work, additional academic qualification, annual number of individuals with suicidal thoughts requesting assistance, annual number of individuals with a suicide attempt requesting assistance, and annual number of suicide-related funerals. Results highlight the need for mandatory, structured suicide prevention training to strengthen clergy capacity in Nigeria and other low- and middle-income countries.</p>

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Perceived Comfort and Competence of Southeast Nigerian Clergy in Responding to Suicidal Crises

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月17日

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  • JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji,
  • Oluchi Miracle Osondu,
  • Juliet Ifeoma Nwufo,
  • Chuka Mike Ifeagwazi,
  • Justus Uchenna Onu,
  • Jennifer E. Johnson

摘要

Suicide remains a critical global mental health challenge, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries where access to formal mental health services is limited. In such contexts, including sub-Saharan Africa, individuals in crisis often turn first to faith leaders. Clergy frequently encounter suicidal crises and serve as initial points of contact, yet there is little empirical evidence on their comfort or competence in responding to such crises. Our study examined clergy’s self-reported comfort and competence in handling suicidal crises, thereby addressing a critical gap in understanding clergy’s readiness for frontline suicide prevention in Nigeria. Participants were 253 Catholic clergy (all Black men; ages 27–72, M = 44.58, SD = 9.95) who completed a questionnaire form during monthly recollections and annual retreats for priests in eight Nigerian dioceses between June and October 2024. All participants reported having intervened in cases of suicidal thoughts or attempts. An ordinal logistic regression was applied for the data analysis. Findings indicated that roughly 40% felt comfortable or very comfortable and about 50% felt competent or very competent during the interventions. Findings showed that clergy who felt more comfortable were 2.34 times more likely to feel competent, after adjusting for age, years of experience in priestly work, additional academic qualification, annual number of individuals with suicidal thoughts requesting assistance, annual number of individuals with a suicide attempt requesting assistance, and annual number of suicide-related funerals. Results highlight the need for mandatory, structured suicide prevention training to strengthen clergy capacity in Nigeria and other low- and middle-income countries.