Long-Term Relationships Between Negative Life Events and Suicidal Ideation Specifying Agnew’s General Theory of Crime and Delinquency: A 7-Year Longitudinal Mediation Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal mediationa(l pathways on the link between various straining experiences and suicidal ideation and to test whether its relationship was mediated by the role of negative emotions, constraints, and motivations. Data for this study were collected as part of the Korean Welfare Panel Study, which was a longitudinal study conducted among 7,027 Korean households, surveyed annually from 2006 to 2012. The results indicated that bullying victimization had important effects on negative emotions, although bullying victimization was not significant for later suicidal ideation. Peer delinquency was significantly correlated with negative emotions and positively predicted later suicidal ideation. Also, the significant impact of bullying victimization was transmitted to suicidal ideation through negative emotions. It implies that individuals’ negative life events predicted strain or stressors generating negative emotions that, in turn, led to a high risk of suicidal ideation as a possible coping skill.