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. 2022 Nov 29;19(23):15895.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192315895.

The Relationship of Family Functioning and Suicidal Ideation among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Defeat and the Moderating Role of Meaning in Life

Qin Yang  1   2 , Yi-Qiu Hu  1   3 , Zi-Hao Zeng  1 , Shuang-Jin Liu  1 , Tong Wu  1 , Gang-Huai Zhang  2
Affiliations

The Relationship of Family Functioning and Suicidal Ideation among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Defeat and the Moderating Role of Meaning in Life

Qin Yang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between family functioning and suicidal ideation among adolescents.

Method: A total of 4515 junior and senior high school students were assessed using the Family APGAR, the Depressive Symptom Index-Suicidality Subscale, the Defeat Scale, and the Chinese Meaning in Life Questionnaire.

Results: This study found pairwise correlations between suicidal ideation, family functioning, defeat, and meaning in life. Specifically, family functioning was an influencing factor of adolescent suicidal ideation, and defeat was a mediator of the relationship between family functioning and adolescent suicidal ideation; meaning in life was found to be a moderator of the first half of the mediation process by defeat, that is, it moderated the influence of family functioning on adolescent defeat.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the relationship between family functioning and adolescent suicidal ideation, as well as the influence of defeat and meaning in life on this relationship, constituted a moderated intermediary model. This finding has both theoretical and practical value for the implementation of a psychosocial model of adolescent suicide prevention and intervention.

Keywords: adolescents; defeat; family functioning; meaning in life; suicidal ideation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Simple slope trajectory of the moderating role of meaning in life on the relationship between family functioning and adolescent defeat.
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