The Relation of Self-Compassion and Anger Control Dimensions With Suicide Ideation in University Students

Suicide ideation is one of the strongest risk factors for completed suicide. There have been many reports of significant increases in suicide and suicide attempts in university students. This study was performed to determine the relationship of self-compassion and anger control dimensions with suicide ideation. The method of this study was descriptive and correlation. The statistical population comprised students of Mohaghegh Ardabili university in the second semester of the 2012 - 2013 school year. One hundred and fifty subjects were selected from this population by random multistage clustering. They were asked to answer questionnaires about suicide ideation, self-compassion, and multidimensional anger. The collected data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression tests. The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient tests showed that suicide ideation was negatively correlated with self-compassion (r = -0.19; P < 0.05) and mindfulness components (r = -0.20; P < 0.05), but it was positively correlated with self-judgment (r = 0.39; P < 0.001), isolation (r = 0.28; P < 0.004), over-identification (r = 0.49; P < 0.001), anger arousal (r = 0.39; P < 0.001), anger-provoking situations (r = 0.24; P < 0.001), hostile outlook (r = 0.32; P < 0.001) and anger (r = 0.45; P < 0.001). The regression analysis results also showed that 24% of the variance of suicide ideation can be explained by self-compassion and 24% by anger-control dimensions. Based on the results, improving self-compassion and anger-control skills are suggested as ways to decrease suicide ideation.