Suicide Attempts in Turkish University Students: The Role of Cognitive Style, Hopelessness, Cognitive Reactivity, Rumination, Self-esteem, and Personality Traits

Abstract

Background: Suicide is one of the major public health problems in young adults. Detecting the risk factors and correlates among university students might help identify students who are under risk and who need early interventions for suicide prevention. Aims:The current study aimed to investigate the cognitive style, self-esteem, hopelessness, rumination, cognitive reactivity, and personality characteristics of Turkish university students, who previously attempted suicide and who did not.Method: A total of 355 university students (34 previous suicide attempters) were recruited for this study, and they completed the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), the Leiden Index of Depression Sensitivity-Revised (LEIDS-R), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Cognitive Style Questionnaire-Short Form (CSQ), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).Results: Higher RRS, BHS, CSQ scores and lower TIPI-A and RSES scores were significantly associated with a previous suicide attempt. Conclusion:Negative cognitive style, hopelessness, and rumination were significant correlates of a previous suicide attempt. These cognitive factors may be targets in psychotherapy to reduce suicide attempts in college-age individuals.

Sobreviventes Do Suicídio: Uma Compreensão Sob a Ótica Da Teoria De Betty Neuman

“…Nesse contexto, estudos apontam que existe uma correlação direta entre estresse, diminuição da satisfação com a vida, baixa autoestima e aumento do comportamento suicida. Além disso, a baixa autoestima, especialmente entre os jovens, pode afetar o seu modo de ser, sentir-se, agir no mundo e se relacionar com outras pessoas (13)(14)(15)(16)(17) .…”

Suicidal behaviour among university students: a systematic review

“…Anxiety and depression comorbidities were identified as prominent mental health problems experienced by students (Lew et al, 2020; Mitsui et al, 2018; Russell et al, 2019; Taylor et al, 2020). These comorbidities were reported to be experienced as: feelings of helplessness and hopelessness (Akpinar Aslan et al, 2020; Bernanke et al, 2017; Reyes et al, 2015); loneliness/sense of disconnection (Chang et al, 2019); thwarted belongingness (Collins et al, 2018; Kwan et al, 2017; Lee et al, 2018); unbearable mental pain (Dhingra et al, 2019); sense of powerlessness in stressful events (de Albuquerque et al, 2019); psychological distress, emotional exhaustion, eating problems, and sleeping difficulties such as insomnia, nightmares, and sleep deprivation (Haghighi et al, 2018), fatigue (Rosiek et al, 2016); alexithymia; impulsivity; anhedonia; and low distress tolerance levels (Kratovic et al, 2020).…”

“…This included reports of thoughts leading to low self-esteem (Taylor et al, 2020) and a negative self-concept (Gselamu & Ha, 2020). Factors contributing to the above-mentioned were decreased life satisfaction (Rosiek et al, 2016); low life purpose and meaning of life (Lew et al, 2020); sense of burdensomeness (Becker et al, 2020; Collins et al, 2018; Kwan et al, 2017; Park & Kim, 2019); rumination on their negative life experiences and environmental stressors (Akpinar Aslan et al, 2020; Hasking et al, 2019); and self-blame (Lew et al, 2020).…”