The Relationship between Postgraduate Students’ Depression and Suicide Risk

Objective: To understand the categorical characteristics of postgraduate’s depression and analyze the differences in suicide risk among potential categories of depression. Methods: A cluster sampling method was used to select 9515 postgraduate students from a certain university, and a questionnaire survey was conducted with the depression self-rating scale and the suicidal intention indicators in the college students mental health screening scale. Using latent profile analysis to classify depression emotions among postgraduate students, and Chi-square test with BCH method was used to explore the relationship between demographic characteristics and suicide risk. Results: The depression of postgraduates could be divided into C1 low depression fluctuation group, C2 non-depression group and C3 low depression stable group. There were significant differences in the suicide risk of the potential category of depression among postgraduate students（χ2=177.05, p<0.001）, with the highest suicide risk in the C3 low depression stable group, followed by the C2 non-depression group, and the lowest in the C1 low depression fluctuation group. The results of multiple comparisons showed that the risk of suicide was highest in the C3 low depression stable group, followed by the C2 non-depression group, and the C1 low depression fluctuation group was the lowest. Conclusion: There is significant group heterogeneity and individual differences in depression among postgraduate students, and the C3 low depression stable group is a high-risk group for suicide.