زهراسادات خیراندیش

Given the high prevalence of suicidal ideation among university students and the critical role of developmental and emotional factors in its emergence, identifying the psychological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon is of substantial importance. Adverse childhood experiences and the ways in which emotions are processed may contribute to increased psychological vulnerability in adulthood. The present study aimed to predict suicidal ideation based on childhood trauma and meta-emotions, with trauma response styles examined as mediating variables.

The study population consisted of ۳۵۱ university students residing in Tehran, aged ۱۸ to ۳۴ years. After excluding invalid responses, data from ۲۶۱ participants were collected using standardized questionnaires and analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Descriptive statistics indicated that the majority of participants were female and single, with a mean age within the early adulthood range.

Inferential findings revealed that among different types of childhood trauma, emotional neglect and emotional abuse accounted for the largest proportion of variance in predicting suicidal ideation. Furthermore, among meta-emotions, shame and anger showed significant positive effects on suicidal ideation, whereas positive meta-emotions such as compassion demonstrated a protective role. Regarding trauma response styles, the appeasement component emerged as the strongest mediator, substantially explaining the relationship between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation. The overall model exhibited satisfactory goodness of fit and successfully explained both direct and indirect relationships among the study variables.

Overall, the findings suggest that the combination of childhood trauma, negative meta-emotions, and maladaptive trauma response styles—particularly appeasement—constitutes a major risk profile for suicidal ideation among Iranian university students. These results underscore the importance of developing trauma-informed preventive interventions, emotion regulation training, and strategies aimed at modifying maladaptive response styles. Such efforts may inform mental health policy-making and contribute to the design of effective educational and therapeutic programs within university settings.