Coping Skill as a Moderator Between Negative Life Events and Suicide Among Young People in Rural China

OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we aim to test whether the approach or the avoidance coping skill can be a moderator between negative life events and suicide, and to test the deficient coping strain in the strain theory. METHOD: This sample comprised 392 suicide cases and 416 community living controls, aged 15-34 years, from 16 rural counties in China. An established psychological autopsy method and a case-control design were used in this study. The 48-item Coping Response Inventory evaluated the degree of coping skills of the people who died by suicide. RESULTS: Results indicated that the avoidance coping skill, but not the approach coping skill, can moderate between negative life events and suicide. CONCLUSION: The low level of the avoidance coping skill may represent a promising variable for screening for suicide risk in rural China.