Benevolent Childhood Experiences and Suicidal Ideation Among College Students: A Moderation Analysis by Age, Gender, and Marital Status

Background/Objectives: Suicidal ideation affects a considerable proportion of college students, and protective factors developed during childhood may mitigate it. We examined the relationship between benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) and the frequency of suicidal ideation among Peruvian college students, as well as the moderating roles of age, gender, and marital status. Methods: A total of 451 students from public and private universities in Peru (74.9% women; mean age 22.12 years) participated in the study and completed the BCEs scale and the Spanish version of the Suicidal Ideation Frequency Inventory. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, three moderation models were estimated via multiple linear regression with mean-centered predictors, heteroscedasticity-consistent (HC3) and bootstrap confidence intervals, and sensitivity analyses. Results: BCEs were inversely and significantly associated with suicidal ideation (r = −0.358, p < 0.001). Age moderated this relationship: in the continuous-age model, the interaction was b = 0.061 (95% CI [0.026, 0.097]; ΔR2 = 0.020), and the inverse association was no longer significant beyond approximately 31 years of age, a result presented here as exploratory because it rests partly on a small number of older students. Gender and marital-status interactions were not significant, although the power to detect small interactions was limited; the models explained between 14% and 21% of the variance. Conclusions: The findings indicate that benevolent childhood experiences are inversely associated with suicidal ideation, an association that did not differ significantly by gender or marital status and that appears strongest in emerging adulthood. These findings are correlational and do not establish a protective effect; the assessment of BCEs merits further study in university mental health research, pending validation of the scale in the Peruvian population.