AccScience Publishing / GHES / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ghes.3737
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Polyvictimization and suicidal ideations/behaviors among college students: Examining protective factors of resilience and social support

Jeoung Min Lee1*
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1 School of Education, Social Work, and Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
Submitted: 22 May 2024 | Accepted: 19 July 2024 | Published: 26 September 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

By applying the Schematic Appraisals Model of Suicide, this study examined whether resilience mediates and perceived social support moderates the relationship between polyvictimization and suicidal thoughts/behaviors among college students. The study included 790 college students (71% female), whose ages ranged from 18 to 31 years. Their racial demographics included White (472; 55%), African American (128; 17%), Hispanic (94; 12%), and others (125; 16%). Models 4 and 5 from PROCESS Macro 4.2 in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 29.0 were used to test the mediation and moderation effects. The results indicated a positive association between polyvictimization and suicidal thoughts/behaviors. Resilience exhibited an indirect association between polyvictimization and suicidal thoughts/behaviors. Specifically, if polyvictimized college students have higher levels of resilience, they are less likely to experience suicidal thoughts/behaviors. Perceived social support as a moderator explained the association between polyvictimization and suicidal thoughts/behaviors. This result suggests that when individuals who experience polyvictimization receive social support, they are less likely to have suicidal thoughts/behaviors. For polyvictimized college students, both resilience and perceived social support can serve as protective factors against suicidal thoughts/behaviors. This study offers insights for implementing campus-wide intervention programs to enhance college students’ resilience and interaction skills, thus contributing to preventing suicidal thoughts/behaviors among polyvictimized individuals.

Keywords
Polyvictimization
Suicidal thoughts/behaviors
Resilience
Perceived social support
College students
Funding
This research was funded by University Research/Creative Projects at Wichita State University, which was awarded to Jeoung Min Lee; the grant number is U15187.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no conflict of interest.
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