Woller Savannah J, Boffa Joseph W, Viana Andres G, Albanese Brian J, Vujanovic Anka A
Texas A&M University, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System.
Psychol Trauma. 2025 Jan;17(1):145-153. doi: 10.1037/tra0001829.
Suicide is a major public health concern and the third leading cause of death for people aged 15-24. In recent years, suicidal ideation and behaviors among university students have increased. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a well-established factor related to suicidal ideation, behaviors, and risk across populations. It is important to understand cognitive-affective mechanisms related to the association of PTSD and suicidal ideation to inform evidence-based prevention and intervention efforts. Shame, defined as an intense negative emotion involving feelings of inferiority, powerlessness, and self-consciousness, has been identified as both a predictor and correlate of suicidal ideation and behaviors as well as PTSD symptom severity. To date, the literature exploring the role of shame in PTSD-suicide risk associations has been focused on military samples, and no studies have evaluated these associations among university students.
The present study examined the association of PTSD symptomatology with suicidal ideation and suicide risk through shame among trauma-exposed university students. The sample included 1,497 university students (Mage = 21.3 years, SD = 4.35) who endorsed exposure to at least one potentially traumatic event.
Results indicated that shame exerted a significant indirect effect on the association of PTSD symptomatology with (a) suicidal ideation (β = .021, 95% CI [.015, .026]) and (b) suicide risk (β = .032, 95% CI [.022, .043]).
This research has the potential to advance university mental health outreach programs and policy by informing clinically relevant content for intervention programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
自杀是一个重大的公共卫生问题，是15至24岁人群的第三大死因。近年来，大学生中的自杀意念和行为有所增加。创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）是一个公认的与自杀意念、行为及风险相关的因素。了解与PTSD和自杀意念关联相关的认知情感机制，对于为循证预防和干预工作提供信息很重要。羞耻感被定义为一种强烈的负面情绪，涉及自卑感、无力感和自我意识，已被确定为自杀意念和行为以及PTSD症状严重程度的预测因素和相关因素。迄今为止，探索羞耻感在PTSD与自杀风险关联中作用的文献主要集中在军事样本上，尚无研究评估大学生中的这些关联。
本研究通过羞耻感考察了遭受创伤的大学生中PTSD症状与自杀意念及自杀风险的关联。样本包括1497名大学生（年龄均值 = 21.3岁，标准差 = 4.35），他们表示曾经历至少一次潜在创伤事件。
结果表明，羞耻感在PTSD症状与（a）自杀意念（β = 0.021，95%置信区间[0.015，0.026]）和（b）自杀风险（β = 0.032，95%置信区间[0.022，0.043]）的关联中发挥了显著的间接作用。
本研究有潜力通过为干预项目提供临床相关内容，推动大学心理健康外展项目和政策的发展。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2025美国心理学会版权所有）
