The role of impulsivity in orientation to suicide of university students with a history of self-injury behavior

Abstract

The aim of this research was to describe the effect of depression, hopelessness, and impulsivity on orientation to suicide and the role of impulsivity as a mediator of suicidal orientation in university students with a history of self-injury behaviors. 1645 young people between 18 and 29 years old participated, from two Colombian cities. 218 young people were selected (M= 21.00; SD= 2.99) who reported at least one suicide attempt in the last year, who answered the “Suicidal Orientation Inventory”, the “Beck Hopelessness Scale”, the “Beck Depression Inventory” and the “Barratt Impulsivity Scale”. Depression, hopelessness, and impulsivity explained 63% of the variation in suicidal orientation (R2= .635, IC 95% [.555, .713], p= .001). Impulsivity mediated with depression in those cases in which suicidal orientation was high, whose total, direct and indirect effects were statistically significant (p< .001). Impulsivity plays a mediating role between depression and hopelessness in predicting suicidal orientation.