Relative Deprivation and Suicidal Ideation Among Chinese College Students: The Mediating Role of Psychological Pain and the Moderating Role of Social Support

Suicidal ideation remains a longstanding and critical issue in mental health research due to its serious consequences for individuals’ lives and well-being. Although relative deprivation has been identified as an important risk factor for suicidal ideation, the mechanisms underlying this association remain poorly understood. Drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives, including the Strain Theory of suicide and the Stress-Buffering Model, this study examined a moderated mediation model linking relative deprivation to suicidal ideation, with psychological pain as the mediator and social support as the moderator. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 630 college students. Participants completed self-report measures of relative deprivation, psychological pain, perceived social support, and suicidal ideation. The findings revealed that relative deprivation was positively associated with suicidal ideation and that psychological pain mediated this association (β = 0.066, 95% CI = [0.028, 0.121]). Moreover, social support significantly moderated both stages of the mediation process, weakening the positive effect of relative deprivation on psychological pain and the positive effect of psychological pain on suicidal ideation (β = −0.130, 95% CI = [−0.190, −0.070]; β = −0.089, 95% CI = [−0.150, −0.028]). Overall, the findings suggest that relative deprivation contributes to suicidal ideation through psychological pain and that social support serves as an important boundary condition in this process. These findings extend existing theoretical frameworks and offer practical implications for suicide prevention among college students.