Understanding hazardous drinking and suicidal ideation and suicide risk among college students: anxiety sensitivity as an explanatory factor

Abstract

ABSTRACT Suicide is a leading cause of death among college students. Although previous work indicates that the (hazardous) use of alcohol contributes to suicidal ideation/risk, little work has examined potential underlying explanatory factors. One example is anxiety sensitivity (AS). The current study evaluated whether AS explains associations between hazardous drinking and suicidal ideation and risk among college students. Data from racially/ethnically diverse students (N = 1,206; 76.7% non-White; Mage = 22.13) were analyzed. Hazardous drinking was a significant predictor of suicidal ideation (p < 0.001) and risk (p < 0.001). There were significant indirect associations of hazardous drinking via AS with both ideation (b = 0.07, 95% CI [0.05, 0.10]) and risk (b = 0.04, 95% CI [0.03, 0.06]); AS explained a significant portion of variance in both associations (42.6–51.4%). AS cognitive concerns (but not physical or social concerns) contributed significantly to the explanatory pathways. Students who engaged in hazardous drinking were also greater than twice as likely to screen positive for suicide risk (p < 0.001). The findings suggest that AS, particularly cognitive concerns, partially accounts for the associations between hazardous drinking and suicidal ideation/risk. Hazardous drinking may exacerbate AS which, in turn, may influence suicidal ideation and risk; however, results need to be replicated with longitudinal data.