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The Interplay Between Suicide Risk, Cognitive Vulnerability, Subjective Happiness and Depression Among Students

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Abstract

The present study assessed the association among risk and resilience factors (hopelessness, depression, subjective happiness) that contribute to suicidal behaviors in Italian youth. The sample consisted of 253 Italian high school adolescents (mean age = 18.09, SD = 0.57; 137 males; 116 females) who were administered a demographic questionnaire, the Suicide History Self-Rating Screening Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory II, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Attitude Toward Self-Revised Scale, and the Subjective Happiness Scale. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with cognitive vulnerabilities (trait-like tendencies to interpret information in a negative and distorted way when encountering a perceived stressful event) and negatively associated with subjective happiness. Participants with an elevated suicide risk also reported increased depressive symptoms, more cognitive vulnerabilities, and less subjective happiness. Moreover, depressive symptoms significantly mediated the relation between subjective happiness and suicide risk. The findings suggest that in order to prevent suicidal behavior in adolescents, clinicians should consider both risk and protective factors, particularly those that strengthen competencies and build self-esteem. Schools should employ a more positive approach that promotes resilience and enhances protective factors to reduce depressive symptoms and suicidality among youth.

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Acknowledgments

Drs. Pompili and Innamorati contributed equally to this paper. Dr. Innamorati planned and performed statistical analysis. All authors contributed in drafting and in the revision of the paper. Dr. Pompili projected the study design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, − Sant’Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    Maurizio Pompili, Marco Innamorati, Erica Di Fiore, Gloria Giordano, Federica Ricci, Denise Erbuto & Paolo Girardi

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Dorian A. Lamis

  3. Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Renata Tambelli

  4. The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Galloway, NJ, USA

    David Lester

  5. Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genova, Genoa, Italy

    Mario Amore

  6. Unit of Psychiatry, DISM, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Matteo Balestrieri

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  1. Maurizio Pompili
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  2. Marco Innamorati
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Correspondence to Maurizio Pompili.

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Pompili, M., Innamorati, M., Lamis, D.A. et al. The Interplay Between Suicide Risk, Cognitive Vulnerability, Subjective Happiness and Depression Among Students. Curr Psychol 35, 450–458 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-015-9313-2

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