Self-compassion and family cohesion moderate the association between suicide ideation and suicide attempts in Chinese adolescents

Abstract

Background: In recent years, many studies have examined risks factors that facilitated the transition from suicide ideation to suicide attempts. Few studies, however, have examined protective factors against this transition. The current study thus assessed two protective factors, self-compassion and family cohesion, in buffering the transition from suicide ideation to suicide attempts.

Method: A number of 520 Chinese adolescents (43.46% females, mean age = 12.96 years) completed questionnaires assessing self-compassion, family cohesion, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts two times with a 12-month interval.

Results: Self-compassion significantly moderated the association between Wave 1 SI and later SA. The positive dimension of self-compassion thwarted the transition from SI and SA, and the negative dimension of self-compassion strengthened the associations. In addition, family cohesion also significantly moderated the transition from SI to SA.

Conclusion: Increasing the levels of self-compassion and family cohesion may be the targets for treating adolescents with suicide ideation to prevent them from attempting suicide.

Keywords: Adolescents; Family cohesion; Self-compassion; Suicide attempts; Suicide ideation.