Affective States: A Potential Mediator of Suicidal Ideation among College Students

Abstract

Background: Suicide is the second leading cause of death worldwide for individuals aged 15–29 years, and college students are the subpopulations who are receiving less attention. The suicide crisis in India’s school and colleges is worsening, reaching the highest suicide rate in the world among youth standing at 35.5% per 100,000. Suicide reported every 15 minutes in India, one is committed by a youth in the age group of 15-29 years. The environmental and social factors unique to college students includes social, academic, psychological, and existential. This major life transition as well as specific risk factors may exacerbate existing psychological difficulties or trigger new ones that can ultimately lead to suicide. Methodology: Aims: Present study has been under taken with the aim to identify relationship between suicidal ideation and affect among college students. Sample: The surveying approach under the descriptive method was adopted. 200(140 females and 60 males) undergraduate students within the age range of 18-26years were selected randomly from 3 different colleges of Imphal-west district of Manipur through multistage sampling method and informed consent was taken from the participants. Tools: Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ) to assess the frequency of occurrence of suicidal ideation within the past month and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Expanded Form (PANAS-X) were utilized in the present study. Results and conclusion: Results indicated the presence of suicidal ideation among college students. Among the 200 participants, 10% participants were having suicidal ideation of which 8 male and 12 female participants exhibited suicidal ideation representing 10% of the 200 participants. Basic negative affect such as fear, guilt, sadness were the important variables that statistically correlated with suicidal ideation among the participants. It can be concluded that better understanding of the underlying factors leading to suicide would focus on potential target for early intervention for college students.