Considerations regarding article on parental psychological control, socially prescribed perfectionism, depression, and suicidal ideation among university students

Suicidal ideation (SI) and, by extension, suicide, represent a leading cause of death among university students. The study conducted by Wu et al. [ 1 ] addresses this crucial topic by identifying a significant partial chain mediation model linking parental psychological control (PPC) to SI via socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) and depression. The article makes a genuine contribution to the understanding of mental health risks in a population facing markedly rising rates of psychopathology [ 2 ]. However, we address three concerns we believe affect the strength of the authors’ conclusions: the use of causal language, certain measurement decisions, and analytic reporting choices. This commentary is intended as constructive and collaborative, towards further improving an already important contribution to the field.