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An integrative path model is presented that details the relationships among several demographic variables, life stress, depression, hopelessness, social support, and suicidal ideation. The sample consisted of 737 university students, 287 males and 450 females. Negative life stress was found to be a significant predictor of both depression and hopelessness, which, in turn, mediated the relationship between life stress and suicidal ideation. Contrary to previous findings, depression proved to be a better predictor of suicidal ideation than hopelessness. Findings also illustrated the importance of including social support measures in the model, as significant relationships were discovered between social support and both life stress and suicidal ideation. The model accounted for a total of 34% of the variance in suicidal ideation. Individual findings are interpreted; the ways in which they reflect on previous research, and future efforts, are discussed.
M. David Rudd (Thu,) studied this question.