The relationship between child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation: moderated mediation model

Han ZHOU Liu qinxue ZHANG WEI

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2019, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2) : 335-342.

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PDF(795 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2019, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2) : 335-342.

The relationship between child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation: moderated mediation model

  • Han ZHOU1, 2,Liu qinxue3,ZHANG WEI
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Abstract

A massive literature documents the association between psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation. However, the underlying mechanism of suicidal ideations remain unknown. Based on the strain theory of suicide, coping style is crucial in causing suicidal ideation. Moreover, previous researches and the attachment theory suggest potential mediating role of coping style in the relationship between child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation. Meanwhile, according to the interpersonal theory of suicide, friendship quality could be the protecting factor for suicidal ideation. From the perspective of ecological systems theory, friendship quality may interact with child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation; and in line with the organism-environment interaction model, friendship quality may interact with coping style. To sum up, this study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine whether coping style mediated the relation between child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation, and whether friendship quality moderated this indirect mediating process as well as direct process. A total of 988 junior high school students aged 9-14 years old (543 boys and 445 girls) from 8 cities participated in this investigation. After given informed consents, they completed Child Psychological Abuse and Neglect Scale, Chinese Version of Positive and Negative Suicidal Ideation Inventory, Copying Style Scale for Middle School Students and Chinese Version of Friendship Quality Inventory. First, common method biases were examined. Then correlation analysis were conducted to acquire the overall relationships between variables among the hypothesized model. Finally, the moderated mediation effects were tested by the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The correlation analysis showed that: child psychological abuse and neglect was positively correlated with suicidal ideation, emotion-focused coping was positively correlated with child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation, while problem-focused coping was negatively correlated with child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation. The testing for moderated mediation model indicated that: after controlling for gender and single child, (1) child psychological abuse and neglect significantly contributed to suicidal ideation; (2) coping style played a mediating role in the relationship between child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation; (3) friendship quality moderated the direct path from child psychological abuse and neglect to suicidal ideation, with this indirect effect being much stronger for adolescents with lower friendship quality; (4) friendship quality also moderated the mediated path through emotion-focused coping, with the relationship being stronger for adolescents with higher friendship quality. Thus, both mediating and moderating effects exist in the association between child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation. The present study revealed how and when child psychological abuse and neglect affects suicidal ideation. These findings may contribute to the precaution and prevention of teenager suicide. First, it is important to protect children from the harm of psychological abuse and neglect. Second, it is also helpful to decrease teenagers’ suicidal ideation risk by learning appropriate coping strategies and forming stronger interpersonal relationship.

Key words

child psychological abuse and neglect / coping style / suicidal ideation / friendship quality / moderated mediation

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Han ZHOU Liu qinxue ZHANG WEI. The relationship between child psychological abuse and neglect and suicidal ideation: moderated mediation model[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2019, 42(2): 335-342
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