Correlation between Childhood Trauma and Suicidal Ideation by Mediation of Mental Pain and Object Relations

Suicide is a serious public health problem that happens in all cultures and eras. Suicide ideation and suicide attempt can be influenced by many factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between childhood trauma and suicide ideation by mediating role of mental pain and object relations.

The research method was descriptive-correlational. Accordingly, 371 students of Islamic Azad Universities of Tehran were selected by multistage cluster sampling. In order to collect data, “Childhood Trauma Questionnaire”, “Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation”, “Orbach & Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale” and “Bell Object Relations Inventory” were used. The validity of the instruments was limited to previous studies and the reliability was performed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Data were analyzed using SPSS.22.  and Amos V. 23.

The evaluation of hypothetical model with fit indexes demonstrated that the hypothetical model fits the measurement model (CFI=0.95, NFI=0.95, and SRMR =0.072). The results showed that childhood trauma correlates with suicide ideation both directly and indirectly through mental pain and object relations.

Mental pain and object relations play a mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide ideation.  It is suggested that the present findings be used in developing preventive and therapeutic interventions on suicide ideation and suicide attempt.