Suicidal Ideation Among International Students: The Role of Cultural, Academic, and Interpersonal Factors
Publication Date
7-1-2021
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Counseling Psychologist
Volume
49
Issue
5
DOI
10.1177/00110000211002458
First Page
673
Last Page
700
Abstract
We examined two structural equation models of international students’ suicidal ideation using data from 595 international students in two public universities in the United States. The models represented competing hypotheses about the relationships among discrimination, cross-cultural loss, academic distress, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation. The findings indicated there were direct, positive links between discrimination, cross-cultural loss, and academic distress to perceived burdensomeness; a direct, positive link between perceived burdensomeness and suicidal ideation; and indirect, positive links between discrimination, cross-cultural loss, and academic distress to suicidal ideation via perceived burdensomeness. The only predictors that related to thwarted belongingness were cross-cultural loss and academic distress, and there were no indirect links to suicidal ideation via thwarted belongingness. In fact, with all other variables in the model, thwarted belongingness was unrelated to suicidal ideation. Finally, academic distress was directly related to suicidal ideation. We discuss implications of the findings.
Keywords
culture, interpersonal theory of suicide, structural equation modeling
Recommended Citation
Andrés E. Pérez-Rojas, Na Yeun Choi, Minji Yang, Theodore T. Bartholomew, and Giovanna M. Pérez. "Suicidal Ideation Among International Students: The Role of Cultural, Academic, and Interpersonal Factors" Counseling Psychologist (2021): 673-700. https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000211002458