Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University, Logan, QLD, Australia
  • 2 World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  • 3 Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Human Ecology, Putra University of Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, China
  • 5 Department of Human Development and Family Study, Putra University of Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia
Front Psychiatry, 2020;11:129.
PMID: 32231596 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00129

Abstract

Background and Objective: Suicide is a leading cause of death in young people. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors can be triggered by life and study stresses; therefore, it is important to understand the role of coping strategies. The current study analyzed the link between different coping strategies and suicidality in university students in China. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 2,074 undergraduate students from China used a stratified-clustered-random sampling method (response rate 94.4%). The Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised Scale was used to identify suicidal risks, while the Brief COPE scale was used to measure different coping strategies. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were utilized to examine coping strategies and suicidality. Results: A negative association of some coping skills (active coping and positive reframing) with suicidality and a positive association of some other coping skills (self-distraction, substance abuse, behavioral disengagement, venting, and self-blame) with suicidality were observed after adjusting for sociodemographic and mental health variables. Conclusions: Training and supporting young people to identify and apply adaptive coping strategies to deal with life stress could help to reduce suicidal ideation and behavior.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.