Perceção de acontecimentos de vida negativos, depressão e risco de suicídio em jovens adultos

Abstract

This study aimed to test two models of suicide risk prediction that take depression as a mediator in the relationship between the frequency and intensity of life events perceived as negative and the suicide risk. Variables of age and gender were controlled. Data were collected at two different times with an interval of five months. 165 young adults (41 men and 121 women) participated and responded to the Life Experiences Survey, the Center for the Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale and the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire Revised. The two structural equation models tested fit the data satisfactorily. Depression mediated the relationship between the frequency and the intensity of life events perceived as negative and the suicide risk. Results are discussed in its implications for clinical practice, demonstrating the importance of evaluating recent life history of individual's and perception that they have relatively to certain life events, as these events can lead to depression which in turn increases suicide risk.