Understanding the Association Between Negative Life Events and Suicidal Risk in College Students: Examining Self-Compassion as a Potential Mediator

Objective : We tested a hypothesized model consistent with the notion that self-compassion mediates the association between negative life events and suicidal risk (viz., depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors) in college students.

Method : The sample was comprised of 331 college students. Self-compassion facets (viz., self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and overidentification) were used in testing for multiple mediation, controlling for sex.

Results : Common humanity, mindfulness, and overidentification were found to mediate the association between negative life events (NLE) and depressive symptoms. However, common humanity was found to be the only mediator of the association between NLE and suicidal behaviors.

Conclusion : These findings suggest that there are specific facets of self-compassion that account for the association between NLE and suicidal risk in college students and that (loss of) common humanity plays a central role in this process.