Table 3.
Studies on mental pain and suicide in samples of students.
| Study | Title | Aim | Sample information | Measure of mental pain | Measure of suicide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campos et al. (49) | Self-report depressive symptoms do not directly predict suicidality in non-clinical individuals: contributions toward a more psychosocial approach to suicide risk | To use a longitudinal design to test several hypotheses. Study 2 assessed the hypothesis that change in suicide ideation is associated with change in psychache after controlling for changes in depression and hopelessness. Study 3 tested the hypothesis that the combination of psychache and hopelessness fully mediated the relationship between depression and life-time suicidality, and that hopelessness related indirectly to life-time suicidality through psychache | Sample size: S2 90 undergraduate students having a history of suicidal ideation or suicide attempt; S3 280 university students Mean age: S2 = 18.31 (SD = 2.24); S3 = 19.73 (SD = 2.17) Female: S2 = 87%; S3 = 70% |
PAS | BSS SBQ-R |
| DeLisle and Holden (44) | Differentiating between depression, hopelessness, and psychache in university undergraduates | To measure the overlap between depression, hopelessness, and psychache constructs in predicting suicide risk | Sample size: 587 undergraduate students Mean age: 18.72 years (SD = 2.49) Female: 78% |
PAS | BSS RASQ |
| Flamenbaum and Holden (7) | Psychache as a mediator in the relationship between perfectionism and suicidality | To assess whether psychache mediates the relationship between perfectionism and suicide | Sample size: 264 university students Mean age: 18.91 (SD = 3.34) years Female: 75.8% |
PAS | Five items assessing suicide history BSS RASQ |
| Holden et al. (46) | Development and preliminary validation of a scale of psychache | To assess psychometric properties of the Psychache Scale and its association with suicidal manifestations | Sample size: S1 = 294 university students; S2 = 211 university students Mean age: S1 = 19.1 (SD = 1.6); S1 = 19.4 (SD = 2.4) Female: S1 = 76%; S2 = 100% |
PAS | RASQ SMQ |
| Leenars and Lester (43) | A note on Shneidman’s Psychological Pain Assessment Scale | To explore validity and reliability of the PPAS as a correlate of suicidality | Sample size: 127 undergraduate students Mean age: 22.90 (SD = 6.40) years Female: 71% |
PPAS | Questions about prior suicidal ideation, prior suicide attempts, and lethality of prior attempts |
| Lester (42) | Psychache, depression, and personality | To explore the correlation of psychache with a history of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts (and manic-depressive tendencies and temperament) | Sample size: 51 undergraduate students Mean age: 24.8 (SD = 7.1) years Female: 76% |
PPAS | Questions assessing history of suicidal ideation, and history of suicide attempts |
| Troister et al. (19) |
A 5-month longitudinal study of psychache and suicide ideation: replication in general and high-risk university students | To evaluate whether psychache and suicidality are associated, and whether this association continues when other suicide-relevant variables of depression and hopelessness are controlled statistically | Sample size: 945 university students into two groups; G1, 683 general sample of participants; G2, 262 high-risk university students Mean age: G1 = 18.23 (SD = NA) years; G2 = 18.17 (SD = NA) Female: G1 = 80%, G2 = 80% |
PAS | Five questions asked about lifetime suicide attempts BSS |
| Troister and Holden (13) | Factorial differentiation among depression, hopelessness, and psychache in statistically predicting suicidality | To evaluate the unique contributions of psychache, depression, and hopelessness in the prediction of suicide ideation | Sample size: 2,974 university students Mean age: 18.31 (SD = 2.26) years Female: 71.8% |
PAS | BSS |
| Troister and Holden (48) | A two-year prospective study of psychache and its relationship to suicidality among high-risk undergraduates | To use a longitudinal design to investigate psychache contribution to suicidality in at-risk university students | Sample size: 41 at-risk university students Mean age: 17.95 (SD = 0.95) years Female: 83% |
PAS | BSS |
| Troister et al. (45) | Comparing psychache, depression, and hopelessness in their associations with suicidality: a test of Shneidman’s theory of suicide | To test Shneidman’s theory of suicide by evaluating the contributions of psychache, depression, and hopelessness, to the statistical prediction of suicidality | Sample size: 1475 undergraduate students Mean age: (18.36, SD = 2.09) Female: 71% |
PAS | Five questions asked about lifetime suicide attempts BSS |
| You et al. (47) | Effects of life satisfaction and psychache on risk for suicidal behavior: a cross-sectional study based on data from Chinese undergraduates | To investigate the predictive power of life satisfaction and psychache on risks for suicidal ideation and suicide attempt in Chinese university students | Sample size: 5988 college students Mean age: 19.94 (SD = 1.38) Female: 46% |
PAS | Two questions assessing suicidal ideation Three questions assessing suicide attempt |
NA, not available; S1, Study 1; S2, Study 2; S3, Study 3.
BSS, Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation; PAS, Psychache Scale; PPAS, Psychological Pain Assessment Scale; RASQ, Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire; SBQ-R, Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised; SMQ, Suicidal Manifestations Questionnaire.