Regulating effect and mediating effect of meaning in life between negative life events and suicidal risk among college students

Abstract

Objective To explore the relationships among negative life events, meaning in life and suicidal risk of college students. Methods A total of 897 students from southern medical university were surveyed by adolescent life events scale (ALES), suicidal behaviors questionnaire-revised (SBQ-R) and meaningful life measure-Chinese revised (MLM-CR). Results The scores of negative life events, meaning in life and suicidal risk were 1.03±0.88, 124.32±20.35 and 4.17±1.66, respectively. There were 64 (7.1%) college students with high risk of suicide. The overall stress score was positively correlated with total suicidal risk score (r=0.134, P<0.01). Total suicidal risk score was negatively correlated with total score of meaning in life(r=-0.340, P<0.01). Moderating effects of meaning in life between negative life events and suicidal risk were significant (P<0.01). Meaning in life fully mediated the effects of negative life events on suicidal risk (P<0.01), which accounted for 59.6% of the total effects. Conclusion Meaning in life as a mediator and moderator between negative life events and suicidal risk. Meaning in life might play protective role in reducing the suicidal risk. Key words: Meaning in life; Negative life events; Suicidal risk; Suicidal ideation; Suicidal behavior; College Students