Relationships between Perceived Discrimination and Suicidal Ideation among Impoverished Chinese College Students: The Mediating Roles of Social Support and Loneliness

Abstract

We explored the mediating effect of social support and loneliness in the relationships between perceived discrimination and suicidal ideation among impoverished Chinese college students. Using the convenience cluster sampling method, we chose a total of 964 impoverished college students from a central province of China. Students completed the cross-sectional survey using the Perceived Discrimination Questionnaire, the Social Support Rating Scale, the University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, and the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling analysis were conducted to clarify the relationships between study variables. Correlation analysis showed that perceived discrimination, loneliness, and suicidal ideation were positively correlated with each other; social support was negatively correlated with perceived discrimination, loneliness, and suicidal ideation. In addition, structural equation modeling analysis indicated that perceived discrimination had a direct positive effect on suicidal ideation; social support and loneliness partially mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and suicidal ideation. Specifically, perceived discrimination was positively associated with suicidal ideation via social support and loneliness separately, and had a serial association through both social support and loneliness. Thus, perceived discrimination may have influenced suicidal ideation through both social support and loneliness.

Generate Greater Gratitude When Being Help? A Study of the Psychological Mechanism of Gratitude for Chinese Poor College Students

“…Liu and Fu ( 2022 ) found that compared with ordinary college students, poor college students are deeply affected by family economic pressure, drop-out phenomenon is more common, social comparison leads to low self-esteem, high anxiety and sensitivity, and mental health status is more prone to deviation. In order to reduce the dropout rate of poor college students and promote their physical and mental health, the Chinese government grants them grants and scholarships according to their poverty levels and provides them with certain part-time jobs (Mao et al, 2022 ). At the same time, as the main body of funding, the state expects such students to complete their studies and grow up healthily, and hopes that students can be grateful to the state and society when receiving funding also, and do not let economic aid only become a material transfer without spiritual elements (Zhao, 2012 ).…”

Resiliencia e ideación suicida en estudiantes universitarios

“…En relación con la ideación suicida se identificó una puntuación de (M=10, 3) que se encuentra por debajo del promedio referencial, por lo tanto, se infiere que los evaluados presentaron menor grado de ideación suicida; de la misma manera, se muestra la investigación de Lee et al, (2021), donde obtuvieron una media de 17, 5. Así también, se observan puntuaciones más bajas obtenidas por Mao et al, (2022) quienes determinaron en su estudio con 964 estudiantes universitarios, una media de ideación suicida de 0,95, al igual que Kiaei & Kachooei, (2022) asemejan a los encontrados por León et al, (2020) que obtuvieron una media mayor en hombres (M=144,14) que en mujeres (M=139, 37), datos que difieren con la investigación de Smith et al, (2020) quienes determinaron que la media de resiliencia fue mayor en mujeres (M=5,4; M=5,2). Por otra parte, Zhang et al, (2019), comparó las medias de resiliencia entre hombres y mujeres, así como por años de estudio, demostrando una puntuación mayor en hombres en segundo año (M=126,53; M=120,89), mientras que en primer año (M=117,99; M=118,35) y tercer año (M=119,39; M=119,65) la media fue levemente mayor en mujeres.…”

Perceived discrimination and suicidal ideation among impoverished and nonimpoverished college students: Different mechanisms via social support, depressive symptoms, and nonsuicidal self‐injury

“…For instance, perceiving others' discrimination can lead to enormous pressure, making it difficult to actively seek and make full use of social support (Monroe & Steiner, 1986). Empirical studies also indicated that discrimination could reduce one's perceived social support and eventually exacerbate mental health problems like suicidal ideation among Chinese college students (Mao et al, 2022). Besides, the escape theory of suicide (Baumeister, 1990) emphasizes that depressive symptoms can strengthen the possibility of suicidal ideation, attempts, and behaviors raised from social exclusion.…”