Coping Strategies and Suicidality: A Cross-Sectional Study From China

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.

Academic Stress and Suicidal Ideation: Moderated Mediation Study

“…Our nding is consistent with [14][15][16] studies. Other extant literature [15,18,19] have however documented the relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation.…”

“…Coping skills such as active coping and positive reframing were negatively associated with suicide, whereas, coping skills like self-distraction, substance abuse, behavioural disengagement, venting, and self-blame were positively associated with suicide e.g. [16].…”

“…These stressors whether short or long-term impact heavily on the coping (either adaptive or maladaptive) capacity of the undergraduates [13]. Productive (adaptive) coping protects students against suicide and suicidal ideation [14,15]; whereas, ineffective/dysfunctional (maladaptive) coping skills among students under persistent academic stress and negative emotions trigger higher suicidal incidences [16]. The relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation has been well documented in literature [17][18][19].…”

“…For instance, a student who is stressed but adopts dysfunctional or ineffective coping styles (blaming oneself for problems, ignoring them, or escaping through fantasizing thoughts) when confronted with the aforementioned potential stressors may begin to consider suicide as an option to end the perturbation [43]. On the contrary, those who may adopt effective or functional strategies (positive reevaluation, planning, and seeking out support) might not contemplate suicide as optional [16]. In other words, coping could either increase or decrease the effect of academic stress on suicidal ideation and its act whereas resilience helps them to bounce back having adaptively coped with academic stress.…”

Coping strategies of individuals in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Literature has found that when people are faced with stressful situations or uncertainties, positive coping strategies such as seeking social support, being compassionate, engaging in exercises, cognitive acceptance, avoidance of threatening thoughts, or positive thinking may be helpful (Hajian, Mehrabi, Simbar, & Houshyari, 2017 ; Ogueji & Okoloba, 2020 ; Ogueji & Olley, 2019 ; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009 ; Van Der Zwan, De Vente, Huizink, Bögels, & De Bruin, 2015 ). In other studies, maladaptive coping strategies such as alcohol consumption, self-blame, or suicidal thoughts have been found among people facing stressful situations (Cook et al, 2016 ; Liang et al, 2020 ). In previous infectious disease outbreaks, the research found coping strategies such as avoidant behaviors, emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, humor, or religious coping to be often employed by individuals (Marjanovic, Greenglass, & Coffey, 2007 ; Phua, Tang, & Tham, 2005 ; Sim, Chan, Chong, Chua, & Soon, 2010 ; Yeung & Fung, 2007 ).…”