Abstract
Background and Objective: Suicide is a leading cause of death in young people. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors can be triggered by life and study stresses; therefore, it is important to understand the role of coping strategies. The current study analyzed the link between different coping strategies and suicidality in university students in China.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 2,074 undergraduate students from China used a stratified-clustered-random sampling method (response rate 94.4%). The Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire–Revised Scale was used to identify suicidal risks, while the Brief COPE scale was used to measure different coping strategies. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were utilized to examine coping strategies and suicidality.Results: A negative association of some coping skills (active coping and positive reframing) with suicidality and a positive association of some other coping skills (self-distraction, substance abuse, behavioral disengagement, venting, and self-blame) with suicidality were observed after adjusting for sociodemographic and mental health variables.Conclusions: Training and supporting young people to identify and apply adaptive coping strategies to deal with life stress could help to reduce suicidal ideation and behavior.
Highlights
Suicidal behavior in young people is a public health and social issue globally [1,2,3]
Suicide is a leading cause of death in young people [4]; nonfatal suicidal behavior is more prevalent in younger age groups [5, 6]
China is reporting a high prevalence of suicidal behavior among young people, including college students [7,8,9]
Summary
Suicidal behavior in young people is a public health and social issue globally [1,2,3]. China is reporting a high prevalence of suicidal behavior among young people, including college students [7,8,9]. There is currently limited knowledge about protective factors for suicidal behavior and ideation. Existing research has examined various coping strategies impacting suicidal behaviors [16] and has Coping Strategies and Suicidality analyzed gender-specific coping strategies associated with suicidal ideation in university students [17]. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors can be triggered by life and study stresses; it is important to understand the role of coping strategies.
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