Life events and suicide risk:mediation role of reasons for life and mindfulness adjustment

Objective To explore the mediating role of reasons for life on the relationship between life events and suicidal behavior and the mediating effect of mindfulness on the association between reasons for life and suicidal behaviors.Methods Totally 2 494 freshmen were recruited from a college in Guangzhou city with cluster sampling and surveyed with the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ASLEC),Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents (RFL-A),Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ),and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R) in December 2013.Results Among the freshmen,the average scores were 33.25±6.58 for life events (ASLEC),4.78±2.10 for suicidal behavior (SBQ-R),162.71±18.72 for reasons for life (RFL-A),and 123.63±12.41 for mindfulness (FFMQ),respectively.The life events score was positively correlated with suicidal behaviors score (r=0.32,P<0.05)and reversely correlated with reasons for living score (r=-0.16,P<0.05);reasons for living score was reversely correlated with suicidal behavior score (r=-0.32,P<0.05).A well-fitted structure equation model including variables of life events,reasons for living,and suicidal behaviors was constructed and the model revealed a significant mediating role of reasons for life on the relationship between life events and suicidal behavior,with the test statistics of χ²=665.54,df=96,root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.05,comparative fit index (CFI)=0.96,incremental fit index (IFI)=0.96,normed fit index (NFI)=0.95,and relative fitness index (RFI)=0.93,respectively.The product term of the score of standardized reasons for life and the score of mindfulness was positively correlated with suicidal behaviors score (r=0.76),indicating a significant mediating effect of mindfulness on the association between reasons for life and suicidal behavior.Conclusion There are close relationships among life events,reasons for life,mindfulness and suicidal behaviors;the association of suicidal behaviors with life events may be mediated by reasons for life and that with reasons for live may be moderated by mindfulness.