Suicide is among the leading causes of death for university students, particularly those with a history of mental health problems. Certain risk factors for suicidal ideation (SI) remain...Show moreSuicide is among the leading causes of death for university students, particularly those with a history of mental health problems. Certain risk factors for suicidal ideation (SI) remain underexplored, especially in the context of additional stressors introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social isolation and online education. International students may be affected to a greater extent due to further challenges. The study aimed to investigate how loneliness and academic stress relate to SI and how these effects differed between pre- and peri-pandemic periods and between domestic and international students. Thus, for a cross-sectional online survey data was collected across five cohorts (2018 n = 340, 2019 n = 116, 2020 n = 207, 2021 spring n = 139, 2021 fall n = 215). Participants (N = 1017) consisted of Leiden University students with self-reported mood and stress problems who were 18 years or older (M = 21.1). As hypothesized, both loneliness and academic stress positively predicted SI. Unexpectedly, effects were stronger pre-pandemic. Loneliness had a greater impact on SI among domestic students, despite international students experiencing more academic stress and loneliness. Academic stress was not moderated by student status. The outcomes of the study confirm that university students were affected differently across distinct phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although mental health outcomes worsened during later pandemic phases, SI rates decreased. Future studies should explore underlying mechanisms that remain unclear.Show less
Background Suicide is a global public health concern causing the death of 703 000 people each year. Adolescents are an especially vulnerable population. Suicidality usually starts with suicidal...Show moreBackground Suicide is a global public health concern causing the death of 703 000 people each year. Adolescents are an especially vulnerable population. Suicidality usually starts with suicidal ideation (SI); therefore, this may be a useful preliminary measure of suicidal intent, and a point for suicide prevention. Our understanding of suicide and strategies for its prevention have not improved much in the past 50 years, which may be due to a missing piece in our current theories of suicidality: they do not address the self and the role it plays in suicidality. However, there is a theory that systematically addresses the self, namely the ego in psychoanalytic theory. Of particular interest are ego mechanisms of defense. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the relationship between ego mechanisms of defense and SI in adolescents to improve existing theories of suicidal behaviour by exploring whether specific ego mechanisms of defense can be identified as a risk factor for SI in adolescents aged 17-26. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted using self-report questionnaires. The sample consisted of 98 university students. Logistic regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Results Immature and neurotic defensive categories were positive predictors of group membership of suicidal ideators, however only neurotic defense mechanisms were significant at p < 0.05. Displacement was also a positive predictor at p < 0.05. Finally, overall defensive functioning (ODF) had a significant negative correlation with SI at p < 0.05, however the logistic regression model was not significant. Conclusion Neurotic defensive category may be a useful predictor of SI. The defense mechanism displacement may also be a useful predictor of SI. ODF is negatively correlated with SI, suggesting a possibly useful relationship between the variables. These results are promising and seem worth further investigation, as defense mechanisms could be used as primary points of prediction and prevention of SI, and hence, suicidality.Show less
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death globally, and is the second leading cause of death in individuals aged 15-29. Suicide is a self-destructive behaviour as it is a direct attack and the...Show moreSuicide is one of the leading causes of death globally, and is the second leading cause of death in individuals aged 15-29. Suicide is a self-destructive behaviour as it is a direct attack and the involvement of the self is not investigated. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate this. Paranoia stems from an excess of mistrust and can disrupt connections between people. Previous research on the connection between paranoid thinking, social connectedness and suicidal ideation suggests that social connectedness is important for trust and lower levels of social connectedness could be associated with the development of suicidality. Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between social connectedness and suicidal ideation and the influence of paranoid thinking on this relationship. Method: This cross-sectional study included 132 participants of which 107 participants were used in the analysis. The data was analysed using a Pearson correlation and a hierarchical regression analysis in IBM SPSS 27 using the Social Connectedness Scale-Revised, the Revised Green et al. Paranoid Thoughts Scale and the Suicidal Ideation Attribute Scale. Results: Our analysis showed a negative relationship between social connectedness and suicidal ideation with significant interaction with paranoid thinking. Both of these findings supported our hypotheses. Which was consistent with previous research. Conclusion: This study was inclusive and recruited enough participants for a strong analysis, however, there was a possibility of sampling bias and lack of generalizability. These findings indicate the importance of looking into these factors in more depth and their influence on mental health outcomes.Show less
Background: Suicidality has become the most common cause of death for younger individuals. With increasing suicide rates across the globe suicidal ideation (SI) has received a lot of attention not...Show moreBackground: Suicidality has become the most common cause of death for younger individuals. With increasing suicide rates across the globe suicidal ideation (SI) has received a lot of attention not only because of its occurrence in a non-clinical population but also due to its predictive quality of suicidal behavior. Recent literature arising out of the COVID-19 era indicated that high loneliness is a predictor higher SI. Current theories of SI emphasized the identification of external risk factors for SI but have neglected the participating role of the self during SI. Objective: That is, the present paper aimed to introduce the ego function mentalization from the school of psychoanalysis and psychodynamics to illuminate the limitations of current SI theories. Consequently, this study investigated the moderating effects of mentalization on the link between loneliness and SI. Method and results: In this cross-sectional design, students aged 17-26 (N=112) filled out online, self-report questionnaires measuring SI, loneliness, and mentalization. The bivariate correlation test showed that loneliness is positively associated with loneliness (rs = .6, p < .001). Findings from the hierarchical analysis indicate that this positive relationship is moderated by mentalization (R2 = .425, b = .01, F (1,108) = 5.01, p = .027). In particular, the interaction effect of loneliness and SI suggests a strengthening of the link between loneliness and SI as mentalization scores increase. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of mentalization as a moderator of the critical relationship between loneliness and SI in a non-clinical juvenile sample. In essence, the findings invite clinicians to introduce ego functions when investigating the emergence, maintenance, and progression of self-destructive ideation.Show less
Background: Suicide is an internationally recognized epidemic. The Social Determinants of Mental Health (SDoMH) model attempts to understand well-being from the novel perspective of one’s socio...Show moreBackground: Suicide is an internationally recognized epidemic. The Social Determinants of Mental Health (SDoMH) model attempts to understand well-being from the novel perspective of one’s socio-economic environment. As suicidal ideation remains ill-understood, the SDoMH model can be utilized to achieve new insights. Objective: This investigation aimed to understand the relation between suicidal ideation and social connectedness, and how student nationality moderates this relationship. Methods: A convenience sample (n = 139) of students in the Netherlands completed a cross-sectional questionnaire about suicidal ideation. The variables of interest were suicidal ideation, social connectedness, and nationality. To measure suicidal ideation, the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale was used and to measure social connectedness the Social Connectedness Scale-Revised was implemented. Results: Social connectedness and suicidal ideation had a significant relationship, with greater social connectedness correlating to lower suicidal ideation (𝑝 < 0. 001). Nationality as a moderator variable was found to be non-significant in this investigation (p = 0.731). Conclusion: Social connectedness is a significant social determinant of suicidal ideation. It is important to build and maintain social connectedness in university settings, especially during the pandemic, to maintain the well-being of students.Show less
Previous research indicates that both suicidal ideation and several risk factors fluctuate substantially within hours. Factors that increase the risk of suicidal ideation in the long-term may...Show morePrevious research indicates that both suicidal ideation and several risk factors fluctuate substantially within hours. Factors that increase the risk of suicidal ideation in the long-term may differ from factors contributing to present suicidal ideation. The aim of this single-case study was to investigate real-time, concurrent associations between suicidal ideation and perceived burdensomeness, hopelessness, loneliness, optimism, social support, and stress. Data were obtained via ecological momentary assessment with four assessments per day over a 21-day period. It was hypothesised that higher scores of burdensomeness, hopelessness, loneliness, and stress, as well as lower optimism scores and the absence of social support would be associated with concurrent increases in suicidal ideation. Additionally, the role of social support as a potential moderator of the relationships between suicidal ideation and perceived burdensomeness, hopelessness, loneliness, optimism, and stress was examined. A multilevel linear mixed model analysis yielded significant associations between hopelessness, loneliness, and social support with suicidal ideation. Further, social support significantly moderated the association between suicidal ideation and hopelessness, with both being lower when the participant was in company. These results imply that repeated daily assessments of hopelessness, loneliness, and social support in individuals at suicide risk may be used as indicators of the severity of current suicidal ideation. Besides, social support may serve as a protective factor that could be integrated in suicide prevention strategies. Nonetheless, these conclusions are limited in their external validity given the case-study design. Further research replicating this study with a larger sample is needed to obtain generalisable conclusions.Show less
