Abstract
BackgroundLosing an only child is a particularly traumatic and heartbreaking event for parents, which can trigger a lot of emotional responses, including PTSD and suicidal ideation (SI). The objectives of this study were mainly to identify predictors of SI and examine the interactions of PTSD with stigma and social support on SI among shidu parents.MethodsA total of 507 shidu parents from Shenyang, China were included in this cross-sectional study. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore risk or protective factors associated with SI. Interactions of PTSD with stigma and social support on SI were also examined by bivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsThe prevalence of SI among shidu parents was 11.24%. PTSD (OR = 2.23, p < 0.05) and stigma (OR = 4.66, p < 0.01) were positively associated with SI. Social support was negatively associated with SI (OR = 0.90, p < 0.01). For individuals with PTSD, the presence of stigma was more likely to lead to SI. For individuals with PTSD, an increased level of social support was less likely to lead to SI.ConclusionsSI is a serious issue among shidu parents. Stigma aggravated the effect of PTSD on SI, while social support buffered the effect of PTSD on SI among shidu parents.
Highlights
Losing an only child is a traumatic and heartbreaking event for parents, which can trigger a lot of emotional responses, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation (SI)
These findings indicate that the prevention for shidu parents need to focus more on females and financial support should be provided for shidu parents with economic difficulties
Consistent with our hypothesis 1, this study found that PTSD was positively associated to the presence of SI
Summary
Losing an only child is a traumatic and heartbreaking event for parents, which can trigger a lot of emotional responses, including PTSD and suicidal ideation (SI). The objectives of this study were mainly to identify predictors of SI and examine the interactions of PTSD with stigma and social support on SI among shidu parents. Parents who lose their only child and can not conceive another child are known as shidu parents in China. Losing a child is a traumatic and heartbreaking event for parents, which can trigger lots of emotional responses, such as increased risk of suicide, PTSD and depression [12, 13]. Exploring the prevalence of SI and its associated risk and protective factors is critical for the prevention of suicidal behavior among Chinese shidu parents
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