A Moderation Model for Bolstering Resilience to Suicidal Psychopathology

Abstract

Positive sociopsychological constructs and coping flexibility may be helpful for alleviating suicidal psychopathology, although relatively little research has examined this possibility among medical students. This survey aimed to investigate whether positive sociopsychological constructs and coping flexibility could buffer the negative impact of daily life stress and bolster the resilience to suicidal ideations and attempts among medical students. This cross-sectional model was based on a study of 787 Indian medical students (725 women and 62 men; mean age, 21.08 years; SD = 2.78; range, 19–37 years) who were asked to complete a battery of self-administered questionnaires. For the purpose of determining the independent and interaction impacts of potential variables of influence, hierarchical multiple linear regression models were used. The moderation analysis investigated that the association between daily life stress and suicidal ideation was buffered among the students having higher levels of positive mental health and coping flexibility, whereas this association was no longer significant at the highest level of positive mental health. Furthermore, the relationship between daily life stress and suicidal attempts continued to be buffered by above-average levels of coping flexibility, emotional stability (ES), and optimism. These findings represent that promoting positive mental health, coping flexibility, ES, and optimism may be a promising approach to mitigate suicidal thoughts and attempts in interventions for medical students at high risk. These modifiable moderating factors can be enhanced by empirically supported treatment and prevention efforts to bolster suicidal resilience.