The Role of Irrational Beliefs, Mindfulness and Cognitive Avoidance in the Prediction of Suicidal Thoughts in Soldiers

Military service is a critical period in a young person’s life. In this period, exposure to factors associated with anxiety causes increased psychosocial context formation, such as suicidal thoughts. The present study was conducted to determine the role of irrational beliefs, mindfulness and cognitive avoidance in predicting suicidal thoughts in soldiers. This was a descriptive and correlative study. The statistical population was all of the soldiers whose military service was run in Ardabil at 2016. By using stratified random sampling methods, 120 soldiers were selected. For data collection, the Irrational Beliefs Scale (Ahvaz), Mindfulness Scale (Ryan, Brown), Cognitive Avoidance Scale (Sexton, Dugas) and Suicidal Thoughts Scale (Beck) were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS-19. There was a significant relationship between irrational beliefs (r=0.39, p<0.01), mindfulness (r=-0.58, p<0.01) and cognitive avoidance (r=0.33, p<0.01) with suicidal thoughts. Results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that the irrational beliefs, mindfulness and cognitive avoidance in 0.58 can predict the suicidal thoughts of soldiers. Also, beta coefficients for predictor variables indicated that mindfulness was a stronger predictor in this analysis (p<0.05). Irrational beliefs, mindfulness and cognitive avoidance are considered predicting variables related to suicidal thoughts