Roles of protective factors and risk factors in suicidal ideation among adolescents in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the role of protective factors and risk factors in suicidal ideation among adolescents in Taiwan based on a resilience protective model.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

A cross-sectional design was employed. A total of 390 adolescents aged 15-19 years were recruited from four high schools in Taiwan by stratified random sampling.

METHODS

An anonymous self-report questionnaire was used to collect demographic characteristics, suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, life stress, emotion-focused coping, self-esteem, and problem-focused coping. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

Depressive symptoms were significantly and positively correlated with suicidal ideation. The interaction between depressive symptoms and self-esteem as well as between emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping were significantly and negatively correlated with suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

Depressive symptoms were a risk factor of suicidal ideation. Self-esteem can moderate the negative effect of depressive symptoms on suicidal ideation. Problem-focused coping can moderate the negative effects of emotion-focused coping on suicidal ideation. Public health nurses could cooperate with school nurses to periodically screen depressive symptoms and provide early interventions. Teaching parents and teachers methods for improving self-esteem of adolescents and enhancing adolescents to apply problem-focused coping strategies could be useful to reduce suicidal ideation of adolescents.