Maladaptive Thinking Styles and Suicide Cognitions: Serial Mediation of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Loneliness

Abstract

There are many social, cultural, biological, and environmental factors that influence suicidal cognitions. Research aimed at understanding suicidal cognitions among university students may provide theoretical evidence for preventive studies on suicide. Accordingly, the present study aims to investigate how maladaptive thinking styles contribute to suicide cognitions through the serial mediating roles of difficulties in emotion regulation and loneliness. The sample consists of 617 university students (77.6% of the participants are female, Mage = 20.511, SD = 2.307). The correlation analysis revealed that maladaptive thinking styles were positively associated with difficulties in emotion regulation, loneliness, and suicide cognitions. Serial mediation analysis was conducted using the PROCESS macro (Model 6), which revealed that difficulties in emotion regulation and loneliness have a serial mediating role in the relationship between maladaptive thinking styles and suicide cognitions. The results have practical implications for developing intervention strategies targeting emotion regulation and loneliness to reduce suicide risk among university students. The research results are discussed and interpreted in the light of the literature.