Resilience mediates the association between self-harm and suicidal ideation in Chinese left-behind children.

BACKGROUND: A significant association between self-harm (SH) and suicide ideation (SI) has been found in Chinese left-behind children (LBC). Existing literature suggests that resilience might be a mediator in this association. However, this hypothesis has not been effectively discussed. The major aim of our study is to analyze the possible mediation of resilience in SH-SI association in Chinese LBC. METHODS: A population-based clustering sampling survey of 2619 LBC was conducted in southwestern China Yunnan province. Self-developed structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression models were applied to estimate the associations between SH and SI, resilience and SI, and SH and resilience. Path analysis was adopted to measure the mediation of resilience, as well as its 5 dimensions, in the association between SH and SI. A subgroup analysis was further done to explore the mediation of resilience in the associations between SH severity and SI, SH repetition and SI, among self-harmed LBC. RESULTS: Compared with LBC who reported no SH behaviors, the odds ratio (OR) for SI was 3.37 (95% CI: 2.63-4.31) among self-harmed LBC. Based on the path model, resilience significantly mediated a quarter of the total association between SH and SI. Among the 5 dimensions of resilience, emotion regulation, interpersonal assistance, and family support were the strongest mediators. Subgroup analysis revealed that, the mediation of resilience was only significant for SH severity and SI. CONCLUSIONS: Resilience played as a prominent mediator in SH-SI association among Chinese LBC. Resilience-centered intervention measures could be considered to reduce suicidal risk of this disadvantageous group.

Childhood maltreatment and suicide ideation: A possible mediation of social support.

BACKGROUND: Existing literature suggests a positive link between childhood maltreatment (CM) and suicide ideation (SI). Nevertheless, whether social support significantly mediates this association remains unknown. AIM: To investigate whether social support significantly mediates the association between CM and SI. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study of 4732 adolescents from southwest China, we intended to discuss the association between CM and multiple types of SI. In addition, the mediation of major types of social support in this association was also investigated. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect the data. A series of multivariate logistic regression models were employed to estimate the association between different types of CM, social support, and SI. The possible mediation of social support in the association between CM and SI was assessed using the path model. RESULTS: Based on the cutoffs for subscales of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, 928 (19.61%), 1269 (26.82%), 595 (12.57%), 2337 (49.39%), and 3067 (64.81%) respondents reported physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, respectively. Among all the social sources, parental support presented as a significant mediator in the association between emotional maltreatment, both abuse and neglect, and all three types of SI: 1-wk, 1-year, and lifetime. Parental social support mediated 5.31% and 29.23%, 4.80% and 24.50%, and 7.04% and 44.42% of the overall emotional abuse-SI and emotional neglect-SI associations, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that improving parental social support might be effective in preventing suicidal risk related to childhood emotional maltreatment in adolescents.