This study aimed to examine the protective effect of reasons for living on three subtypes of suicidal behavior that may lie on a continuum: suicidal desire, suicide preparation, and suicide attempt. A total of 277 university students participated by c...
This study aimed to examine the protective effect of reasons for living on three subtypes of suicidal behavior that may lie on a continuum: suicidal desire, suicide preparation, and suicide attempt. A total of 277 university students participated by completing questionnaires on depression, hopelessness, reasons for living, and suicidal behavior. Hierarchical regression analyses and a mean comparison through ANOVA were performed on the collected data.The results showed that among the six clusters of reasons for living, Survival and Coping Beliefs had a significant main effect on suicidal desire after controlling for depression and hopelessness. Moral Objections and Fear of Suicide had significant main effects on suicide preparation beyond the effect of suicidal desire. Finally, among participants with greater-than-zero preparation levels, those with history of suicide attempt reported significantly less Survival and Coping Beliefs and Moral Objections than those without such history.The findings in this study suggest that reasons for living may differentially predict various types of suicidal behavior. The implications on suicide risk assessment and prevention strategies and limitations of this study are discussed, and directions for future research are presented.