Roles of protective factors and risk factors in suicidal ideation among adolescents in Taiwan

OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of protective factors and risk factors in suicidal ideation among adolescents in Taiwan based on a resilience protective model. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: A cross-sectional design was employed. A total of 390 adolescents aged 15-19 years were recruited from four high schools in Taiwan by stratified random sampling. METHODS: An anonymous self-report questionnaire was used to collect demographic characteristics, suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, life stress, emotion-focused coping, self-esteem, and problem-focused coping. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms were significantly and positively correlated with suicidal ideation. The interaction between depressive symptoms and self-esteem as well as between emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping were significantly and negatively correlated with suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms were a risk factor of suicidal ideation. Self-esteem can moderate the negative effect of depressive symptoms on suicidal ideation. Problem-focused coping can moderate the negative effects of emotion-focused coping on suicidal ideation. Public health nurses could cooperate with school nurses to periodically screen depressive symptoms and provide early interventions. Teaching parents and teachers methods for improving self-esteem of adolescents and enhancing adolescents to apply problem-focused coping strategies could be useful to reduce suicidal ideation of adolescents.