scholarly journals Mediating Effects of Positive Thinking and Social Support on Suicide Resilience

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise M. Matel-Anderson ◽  
Abir K. Bekhet ◽  
Mauricio Garnier-Villarreal

Suicide has been the second leading cause of death for 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States since 2011. The stress experienced by undergraduate college students has the potential to increase one’s risk for suicide. Resilience theory was used as a theoretical framework to examine the interplay between risk and protective factors. A cross-sectional and correlational design was used to assess the mediating effects of positive thinking and/or social support on suicide resilience in 131 college students 18 to 24 years old who completed an online survey. The study found an indirect effect of self-esteem on suicide resilience through positive thinking and social support indicating that as self-esteem increases, positive thinking and social support also increase, which leads to an increase in resilience. The study also found a direct effect of self-esteem, positive thinking, and social support on suicide resilience. The findings inform the development of tailored interventions to build suicide resilience in college students.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251698
Author(s):  
Bob Lew ◽  
Kairi Kõlves ◽  
Jie Zhang ◽  
Wang Zhizhong ◽  
Harold G. Koenig ◽  
...  

Background Several past studies indicated that religious beliefs, orientation, and practice are protective of suicide. Findings from recent studies in China suggest that religiosity may contribute to increased suicidality. However, few studies have examined the associations between religious affiliation across different faiths and suicidality in China. Objective The current study examines the association between religious affiliation and suicidality among college students in six provinces in China. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 11,407 college students from six universities in Ningxia, Shandong, Shanghai, Jilin, Qinghai, and Shaanxi. We collected the data between October 2017 and March 2018 using self-report questionnaires. They included self-report measures of depression, psychache, hopelessness, self-esteem, social support, and life purpose. Results Participants with a Christian affiliation had 1.5 times (95% CI: 1.14, 1.99, p = 0.004) higher odds of indicating an elevated suicide risk, 3.1 times (95% CI: 1.90, 5.04, p<0.001) higher odds of indicating a previous suicide attempt, and increased overall suicidality (B = 0.105, p < 0.001) after accounting for demographic and risk/protective factors. Christians also scored the highest in depression, psychache, hopelessness, and the lowest social support, self-esteem, and purpose in life. Muslims reported decreased suicidality (B = -0.034, p = 0.031). Buddhism/Daoism yielded non-significant results in the multivariate analyses. Conclusions Christian college students reported increased suicidality levels, perhaps due to public policies on religion. The decreased suicidality levels among Muslims may be attributed to higher perceived social support. The associations between religious affiliation and suicidality, depression, and hopelessness contrast sharply with US samples. This finding may be influenced by interactions between the religious denomination, individual, and social/political factors. This conclusion includes the possibility of anti-religious discrimination, which this paper did not investigate as a possible mediator and therefore remains a conjecture worthy of future investigation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leodoro J. Labrague ◽  
Janet Alexis A. De los Santos ◽  
Charlie Falguera

Abstract ObjectiveTo determine the influence of coping behaviors, resilience, and social support on students' emotional and social loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Design and MethodsA cross‐sectional research design was used to gather data from 303 college students from the Central Philippines using four standardized scales through an online survey.FindingsLoneliness among students was high during the coronavirus pandemic. Resilience, coping behaviors, and social support were identified as protective factors against loneliness.Practice ImplicationsInterventions directed toward increasing resilience, social support, and coping behaviors may help decrease emotional and social loneliness caused by the mandatory lockdown during the COVID‐19 pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikayla Sarah Holman ◽  
Matt Williams

Objective: Suicide is a complex phenomenon, with numerous factors contributing to an individual’s risk of suicide. The aim of the present study was to explore how risk and protective factors for suicide interact with one another in a network sense, and to determine which factors were most central to a network of these factors.Method: Using an online survey, cross-sectional data was collected from a sample of 515 individuals who lived in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Participants were recruited through either social media or Prolific Academic. A network of 18 risk and protective factors for suicide was estimated using network analysis. Analyses were preregistered on the Open Science Framework.Results: Factors that had the highest strength centrality were feeling depressed, feeling hopeless, perceived burdensomeness, self-esteem, and social support. Factors that were directly associated with suicidal ideation included feeling depressed, perceived burdensomeness, feeling hopeless, self-esteem, resilience, access to mental health services and a positive attitude towards these services.Conclusion: This research demonstrates the importance of examining protective factors as well as risk factors when determining an individual’s suicide risk. The results suggest that interventions targeting depression may be particularly beneficial in reducing suicide risk, but further longitudinal research is required.


Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 429-436
Author(s):  
Michael A. Trujillo ◽  
Paul B. Perrin ◽  
Richard S. Henry ◽  
Annie E. Rabinovitch

Abstract. Background: Heterosexism has been identified as being a contributing factor of suicidality in sexual minority adults (SMA), and social support is believed to be important for mitigating these effects. Research evaluating racial/ethnic differences in suicidality among SMA is limited despite racial/ethnic minorities being at greater risk. Aims: We aimed to examine the associations between heterosexism, suicidal ideation, and social support in a sample of racially/ethnically diverse SMA. Method: SMA ( N = 239) were recruited as part of an online survey on sexuality and health based in the United States. Results: There were significant positive main effects of heterosexism and significant negative main effects for non-White racial/ethnic identity on suicidal ideation. There were significant negative main effects for social support from family and a significant other but not from friends. A significant interaction of social support from a significant other and racial ethnic identity was qualified by a significant three-way interaction with heterosexism. Social support from a significant other buffered the effect of heterosexism on suicidal ideation among non-White but not among White SMA. All other interactions were not significant. Limitations: Within-group differences of racial/ethnic groups and other domains of social support were not examined, and the cross-sectional nature of the data precludes causal inference. Conclusion: Support from a significant other may be important for suicidality, particularly for racial/ethnic minority SMA.


This research examined factors affecting Diffusion of Entitlement to identify the most likely individual to be prone to Diffusion of Entitlement. This was explored by considering 3 key factors; Self-esteem, Emotional Intelligence, and Culture Orientation. An online survey of a cross-sectional correlational design was conducted on 96 undergraduate students (21 males and 75 females, mean age = 21.1, SD = 4.72) from Coventry University, UK. 3 scales measuring the 3 independent variables along with a decision vignette to measure if an individual was prone to Diffusion of Entitlement or not was provided. The results were analyzed to show a high significance value for High Emotional Intelligence predicting Diffusion of Entitlement and no prediction from Self Esteem and Culture Orientation.


Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Lew ◽  
Ksenia Chistopolskaya ◽  
Yanzheng Liu ◽  
Mansor Abu Talib ◽  
Olga Mitina ◽  
...  

Abstract. Background: According to the strain theory of suicide, strains, resulting from conflicting and competing pressures in an individual's life, are hypothesized to precede suicide. But social support is an important factor that can mitigate strains and lessen their input in suicidal behavior. Aims: This study was designed to assess the moderating role of social support in the relation between strain and suicidality. Methods: A sample of 1,051 employees were recruited in Beijing, the capital of China, through an online survey. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS PROCESS Macro. Social support was measured with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and strains were assessed with the Psychological Strains Scale. Results: Psychological strains are a good predictor of suicidality, and social support, a basic need for each human being, moderates and decreases the effects of psychological strains on suicidality. Limitations: The cross-sectional survey limited the extent to which conclusions about causal relationships can be drawn. Furthermore, the results may not be generalized to the whole of China because of its diversity. Conclusion: Social support has a tendency to mitigate the effects of psychological strains on suicidality.


Crisis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Teismann ◽  
Laura Paashaus ◽  
Paula Siegmann ◽  
Peter Nyhuis ◽  
Marcus Wolter ◽  
...  

Abstract. Background: Suicide ideation is a prerequisite for suicide attempts. However, the majority of ideators will never act on their thoughts. It is therefore crucial to understand factors that differentiate those who consider suicide from those who make suicide attempts. Aim: Our aim was to investigate the role of protective factors in differentiating non-ideators, suicide ideators, and suicide attempters. Method: Inpatients without suicide ideation ( n = 32) were compared with inpatients with current suicide ideation ( n = 37) and with inpatients with current suicide ideation and a lifetime history of suicide attempts ( n = 26) regarding positive mental health, self-esteem, trust in higher guidance, social support, and reasons for living. Results: Non-ideators reported more positive mental health, social support, reasons for living, and self-esteem than suicide ideators and suicide attempters did. No group differences were found regarding trust in higher guidance. Suicide ideators and suicide attempters did not differ regarding any of the study variables. Limitations: Results stem from a cross-sectional study of suicide attempts; thus, neither directionality nor generalizability to fatal suicide attempts can be determined. Conclusion: Various protective factors are best characterized to distinguish ideators from nonsuicidal inpatients. However, the same variables seem to offer no information about the difference between ideators and attempters.


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