The resilience mediation effect on the relationship of suicide risk and psychological pain in nursing students: Structural equation modelling
Authors: Özkan Zeliha , Karakaya Dudu 
Published: August 2024

Accessible Summary

What is known on the subject?

Suicide is an important health problem that has been common all over the world in recent years.

Nursing students are a high‐risk group for suicide.

Factors affecting suicide risk should be investigated and included in psychiatric nursing interventions.

Psychological pain is a predisposing condition for suicide risk.

Studies focus on the relationship between suicide risk and psychological pain. Studies examining the moderator factors affecting this relationship are limited.

What the paper adds to existing knowledge?

By means of the structural equation model, the effect of resilience mediation on the relationship of suicide risk and psychological pain has been shown.

In the process of going from psychological pain to suicide, resilience takes on a buffer function with its mediating effect, and this process can be prevented by the development of resilience.

What are the implications for practice?

Resilience can be added as a protective factor for suicide to the practices of psychiatric nursing.

Initiatives to strengthen resilience can be added to psychiatric nursing practices. In this way, psychological pain and the risk of suicide can be reduced by strengthening resilience.

Psychological pain can be added as a risk factor for suicide to the practices of psychiatric nursing.

Within the scope of psychiatric nursing practices, nursing interventions can be structured to assess and reduce psychological pain.

Interventions on strategies to manage and cope with psychological pain and initiatives to strengthen resilience can be added to suicide prevention programs created for nursing students.

Introduction

Nursing students are a high‐risk group for suicide. Psychiatric nurses should investigate risk factors for suicide.

Aim

The aim of this study was to examine the resilience mediation effect in the relationship of suicide risk and psychological pain in nursing students.

Materials and Methods

This cross‐sectional study was conducted between March and May 2021 with 619 students in the Akdeniz University Faculty of Nursing. A Descriptive Information Form, the Suicide Probability Scale, the Psychache Scale and the Brief Resilience Scale were used to collect data. The structural equation model approach was used to examine the resilience mediating effect on the relation between suicide risk and psychological pain, and Path Analysis was performed. The reporting of the study was conducted according to STROBE.

Results

A semi‐mediatory effect of resilience was found between psychological pain and the risk of suicide, and the effect size was determined to be broad (0.57).

Discussion

Resilience can be considered as a protective factor for suicide prevention in psychiatric nursing practices.

Conclusion

Resilience has an effect on the relationship between psychological pain and suicide risk.

Implications for Practices

The results of this study may guide psychiatric nursing practices in reducing and preventing suicide risk.