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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1443474
This article is part of the Research Topic Experiences of Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention View all 3 articles

The Influence of Negative Life Events on College Students' Suicidal Ideation: the Mediating Role of Entity Theory and the Moderating Role of Meaning in Life

Provisionally accepted
Dan Liu Dan Liu 1Xiaowei Geng Xiaowei Geng 2*Fuwei Zhang Fuwei Zhang 3*Yuan Zhang Yuan Zhang 1Xueli Li Xueli Li 1*
  • 1 School of Educational Science, Ludong University, Yantai, China, Yantai, China
  • 2 Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3 School of Teacher Education, Taizhou University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Suicidal ideation is a desire, thought or conception that is closely associated with suicide, which is an important risk factor of suicidal behaviors. Negative life events could impact college students' suicidal ideation. According to the suicide susceptibility-stress model, the interaction of susceptibility factors and stressors can influence college students' suicidal ideation. The present study investigated the role of entity theory and meaning in life in the influence of negative life events on college students' suicidal ideation. A nationwide questionnaire survey was conducted among 938 college students. The Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation Scale, the Implicit Personality Theory Questionnaire, the Adolescent Life Events Scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire were used. Results showed that negative life events were positively correlated with suicidal ideation, entity theory played a mediating role and meaning in life moderated the mediation of entity theory. To sum up, meaning in life and entity theory may bring some benefits to college students, that is, when facing negative life events, meaning in life and entity theory can attenuate students' suicidal ideation.

    Keywords: Negative life events, Suicidal Ideation, Entity theory, meaning in life, College student

    Received: 04 Jun 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Geng, Zhang, Zhang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xiaowei Geng, Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, Jiangsu Province, China
    Fuwei Zhang, School of Teacher Education, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 317000, Zhejiang Province, China
    Xueli Li, School of Educational Science, Ludong University, Yantai, China, Yantai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.