The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Suicide Ideation: Mediating Role of Mental Pain

Objectives: Suicide has existed in all cultures historically. One of the major difficulties in the health system worldwide is suicide. The purpose of this research was to investigate the mediating role of mental pain in the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide ideation. Methods: The present research was descriptive-correlational. Accordingly, 371 students of Islamic Azad University of Tehran were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. They answered the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ), the mental pain scale of Orbach and Mikulincer (OMMP), and Beck suicide ideation scale (BSSI), which was administered to them. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. The SPSS 22 and Lisrel 8.85 were used to categorize, process, and analyze data and examine the research hypotheses. Results: Evaluation of the research hypothetic model using fitness indices showed that the hypothetic model fits with the model of measurement (CFI = 0.96, NFI = 0.95, SRMR = 0.062). The results showed that childhood trauma has both direct and indirect influences, through mental pain, on suicide ideation. Conclusions: Based on the research findings, it could be concluded that mental pain has a mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide ideation. Considering the mechanism of effectiveness is important in articulating efficacious preventive and therapeutic interventions for suicide ideation.