Relationship of suicide ideation, depression and meaning in life of freshmen

Objective To explore the relationship of suicide ideation, depression and meaning in life as well as the effect of meaning in life between depression and suicide ideation. Methods Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation(BSI-CV), Purpose in Life test(PIL) and Self-Rating Depression scale(DSD) were employed to investigate 1 688 freshmen. Results Suicide ideation had significant positive correlation with depression(r=0.326, P<0.01; r=0.3, P<0.01), while it had significant negative correlation with meaning in life(r=-0.34, P<0.01; r=-0.37, P<0.01). Depression of freshmen with suicide ideation was higher than ones without((48.04±8.13)vs (44.56±7.12), P<0.01), and meaning in life of freshmen with suicide ideation was lower than ones without((98.39±12.68)vs (105.78±11.76), P<0.01). Meaning in life partially mediated the relationship between depression and suicide ideation. Conclusion Suicide ideation of college freshmen are related to depression and meaning in life, and meaning in life can partially mediated the relationship between depression and suicide ideation. Key words: Suicide ideation; Depression; Meaning in life