School connectedness and psychological resilience as mediators in the relationship between childhood abuse and suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents

Abstract

Background: Suicide among adolescents is a huge public health concern around the world. Although childhood abuse has been established as a substantial risk factor for suicide behaviours, potential mediators in this relationship remain unclear. Objective: This study aimed to examine the mediating roles of school connectedness and psychological resilience in the association between childhood abuse and suicidal ideation among Chinese high school students. Methods: The sample involved 1607 adolescents from four high schools in Central China. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to investigate the mediation effects of school connectedness and psychological resilience on the relationship between childhood abuse and suicidal ideation. Results: The prevalence of suicidal ideation during the past week was 21.9%. Childhood abuse was positively related to the development of suicidal ideation directly and indirectly through school connectedness and psychological resilience. School connectedness and psychological resilience were also partial mediators of all three types of childhood abuse (emotional abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse) when the types were examined separately. Conclusions: Suicidal ideation was widespread among Chinese high school students. Psychological resilience and school connectedness could attenuate the detrimental impact of childhood abuse on suicidal ideation. Findings underscore the improvement of psychological resilience and the connection to the school would be beneficial to suicide prevention among Chinese adolescents with childhood abuse.

Intra-Familial Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicidal Behaviors among Tunisian Youth: The Mediating Effects of Impulsivity and Resilience

“…A number of studies support our results. In fact, psychological resilience was a mediator (mediation = 29.6%) in the association between intra-familial childhood abuse and suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents [58]. Similar to our findings, childhood emotional abuse had the higher mediation effect on suicidal ideation when comparing to other intra-familial ACEs in this survey [58].…”

“…In terms of suicidal planning, our results showed higher prevalence than a Chinese study (16.3 and 12%, respectively) [56]. Alarmingly, our results showed that 10.6% of our adolescents had a suicide attempt, which is higher than previous international data that ranged between 3.3 and 7.96% [49,51,53,58,59]. Gender comparison showed a higher prevalence in females for all suicidal behavior types.…”

“…We observed that 38.6% of our sample presented suicidal behaviors which is a little higher than another local 2019-study (26.9%) [53]. When comparing our suicidal ideation rate to those given in previous studies, our results came higher than estimates observed in developed countries [21,[54][55][56][57][58] and also in developing countries [21,49,56,57]. The variability in prevalence of suicidal thoughts may be the result of different methodological approaches (sample selection, study site, perception of suicide).…”

“…In fact, psychological resilience was a mediator (mediation = 29.6%) in the association between intra-familial childhood abuse and suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents [58]. Similar to our findings, childhood emotional abuse had the higher mediation effect on suicidal ideation when comparing to other intra-familial ACEs in this survey [58]. Another recent survey showed the moderating influence of resilience on the relation between ACEs and mental health among students in the United States-Mexico Border region [79].…”

The association between perceived social support and resilience among Chinese university students: A moderated mediation model

“…"Psychological resilience", an individual attribute of psychological resources, is the capacity and dynamic process of maintaining health in the face of adversity or stress (Kalisch et al, 2015). Psychological resilience plays a crucial role in maintaining the mental health of university students, coping with stress, and preventing suicide risk (Yang et al, 2023; Ye et al, 2020). Compare to junior students, college students are in a transition stage from adolescence to maturity, known as emerging adulthood (EA), which is described as “full of possibilities for different development directions, with little certainty about the future, and a greater range of independent exploration of life possibilities than at any other time (Arnett, 2000).…”