The purpose of our study was to determine the incidence of suicidal ideation among Chinese college students and to explore the risk factors for suicidal ideation. A large-sample epidemiological survey was conducted in 13 colleges in Chongqing, China (n = 69,790). Suicidal ideation was reported by 13.03% of the college students who were surveyed. The participants with suicidal ideation were more likely to be female, to come from rural areas, and to have poor life quality and psychological disorder compared to those without suicidal ideation. Moreover, this study revealed that neuroticism, psychoticism, impulsivity, and aggression are risk factors for suicidal ideation, while extroversion has a protective effect on suicidal ideation. We found that four personality traits of students with suicidal ideation, including impulsivity, aggression, psychoticism, and neuroticism, are positively correlated. However, there is a negative correlation between extroversion and the other four traits. These findings highlight the need for further exploration of personality traits in the risk of suicidal ideation.
Keywords: Aggression; Extroversion; Impulsivity; Mental health; Neuroticism; Psychoticism; Quality of life.
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