Mechanism of the effect of reasons for living on suicide attempts among college students： the role of self-control and gender differences

BackgroundSuicidal behavior in adolescence and early adulthood is a major public health concern， and suicide attempts are found to be associated with reasons for living and self-control， whereas there remains a striking lack of empirical research exploring the association among the three in college students.ObjectiveTo explore the relationship among suicide attempts， reasons for living and self-control， and to inform targeted efforts to prevent the development of suicidal behavior.MethodsFrom April to May 2023， a sample of 775 college students from 10 colleges and universities in Shaanxi province， Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality were selected using random sampling method. All students were subjected to complete Self-Control Scale （SCS）， the Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents （RFL-A）， and the self-administered Suicide Attempt Questionnaire. Spearman correlation analysis was utilized to examine the correlation among the above scales in students， and mediation analysis was performed using Mplus 8.3.ResultsA total of 738 college students （95.32%） completed the effective questionnaire survey.Suicide attempts were detected in 99 college students （13.41%）. SCS score was positively correlated with RFL-A score （r=0.329， P<0.01）， and SCS score and RFL-A score were both negatively correlated with the risk of suicide attempts （r=-0.194， -0.285， P<0.01）. The indirect mediation effect value of self-control on the relationship between reasons for living and suicide attempts was -0.059 （95% CI： -0.105~-0.018）， accounting for 11.07% of the total effect. There was a gender difference in the mediating effect of self-control， among which the effect was significant in male group， with an indirect effect value of -0.089 （95% CI： -0.163~-0.030） and accounting for 15.72% of the total effect， whereas the mediating effect was not significant in female group （95% CI： -0.407~0.115）.ConclusionReasons for living can negatively predict suicide attempts among college students， and self-control may play a mediating role in the relationship between reasons for living and suicide attempts among college students， and the mediating effect of self-control appears to be statistically significant only in male but not in female students.