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Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in College Students: The Mediating and Moderating Roles of Hopelessness, Alcohol Problems, and Social Support
Author(s) -
Lamis Dorian A.,
Ballard Elizabeth D.,
May Alexis M.,
Dvorak Robert D.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22295
Subject(s) - psychology , suicidal ideation , clinical psychology , mediation , social support , depressive symptoms , moderated mediation , depression (economics) , suicide prevention , suicide ideation , psychiatry , poison control , cognition , psychotherapist , medicine , medical emergency , social psychology , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Objective Mixed evidence for the associations among depression, hopelessness, alcohol problems, and suicidal ideation in college students may be due to the influence of social support. Method A moderated–mediation analysis was conducted to examine relationships among suicide risk factors in 2,034 college students. Results Social support moderated the relation between depressive symptoms and hopelessness in predicting suicidal thoughts; specifically, the association between depressive symptoms and hopelessness was diminished among those students with high levels of social support. This resulted in attenuated indirect associations between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation via hopelessness. Alcohol problems were associated with likelihood of experiencing suicidal ideation, but not severity. Conclusion Social support may be a key variable for suicide prevention among college students.