Depression, Anxiety or both? Perspectives on Suicidal Ideation in Young People Following Acute Stressful Events

Abstract

Abstract Background: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young individuals, with the number of suicide-related fatalities escalating annually, which gets widespread concern worldwide. A substantial body of evidence suggests that suicidal ideation serve as a crucial predictive factor of suicidal actions. In particular, individuals are vulnerable to develop negative cognitions, suicidal ideation and subsequent suicidal behavior following an acute stressful event. The objective of this study is to examine the correlation between emotions and suicidal ideation in a youthful population before and after a stressful event. Methods:The psychological status and suicidal ideation of the group were conducted by adopting a whole group sampling method before and after the acute stressful event. The data were analyzed utilizing SPSS Version 26 (IBM, Illinois, USA), including the Spearman correlation analysis, meditating effect analysis, the binary logistic regression analysis. Results: The findings demonstrated that individuals with suicidal ideation exhibited higher levels of stress perception, depression and anxiety compared to those without suicidal ideation at all times. Comparing to the results of daily screening, the mediating effect of depression between stress and suicidal ideation was significantly more pronounced (53.11% - 79.66%) in the group following the stressful event, while the mediating effect of anxiety was smaller (33.48% - 31.03%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that depression subsequent to a stressful event increased the risk of suicidal ideation (OR: 1.74). The results of the logistic regression analysis corroborated the alterations in the mediating effects, suggesting that depression play a more crucial role in prompting suicidal ideation after a stressful event. Conclusions:The findings offer an enhanced and refined theoretical foundation for both crisis and clinical interventions, providing greater efficacy and specificity.