Depression and suicidal ideation: Variables associated with risk and protection in Mexican university students Depresión e ideación suicida: Variables asociadas al riesgo y protección en universitarios mexicanos

Abstract

The purposes of the present study were to identify depression-related protective and risk variables, to know which of these discriminate between university students who have suicidal ideation (SI) and those who don’t, as well as between levels of SI. The sample was made up of 1825 students (570 men, 1255 women) who were coursing health-related careers in a Mexican university. Students were assessed via e-mail (the questionnaires for depression, SI, academic stress, satisfaction with life, quality of life, and psychological well-being were sent top their e-mail); the surveys also included measures of socio-demographic variables, academic life, somatic and psychosomatic variables, physical activities, feeding habits, and substance use. The obtained results indicated that the main variables related with depression were psychosomatic symptoms (e.g., irritable mood, poor concentration, etc.), psychological well-being and quality of life; however, the relationships between depression and somatic symptoms, physical activities, feeding habits, and substance use were weak. We found consistent decreases in the scores of the protective variables and increases in the scores of the risk variables, which revealed a consistent trend from the group without SI to the group with high SI. These results confirm depressive symptoms as the main risk variables for SI; the protective characteristics of psychological constructs such as psychological well-being and subjective well-being were discussed. This study suggests the need for inclusion of these protective variables of SI in preventive programs as well as in those that promote physical and mental health.