The Correlation of Perceived Social Support with Suicidal Ideation through Loneliness as A Mediator in University Students

Abstract

The suicide rate tends to be high every year. College students who start continuing their education tend to experience psychological disorders, so support from the environment plays an important role in helping someone overcome problems. Perceived support will also reduce college students’ feelings of loneliness. This study aims to determine the relationship between perceived social support and suicidal ideation through loneliness as a mediator among university students. In this quantitative study, a total of 395 respondents aged 18-24 who is engaged in a dating relationship or has a best friend was selected through a purposive sampling technique. Three scales were used: the suicidal ideation scale, the perceived social support scale, and the loneliness scale. By using path analysis, results showed a significant relationship between perceived social support and suicidal ideation through loneliness as a mediator. Mediation through loneliness has a greater effect than the direct effect (-0,4676>-0,225) and loneliness acts as a partial mediation. This study implies that this study can help prevent suicidal ideation through increasing perceived social support with reducing the loneliness in a human especially university students.