CHILDHOOD ADVERSITIES AND RESILIENCE AS PREDICTORS OF SUICIDAL IDEATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATES OF NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

Abstract

Thoughts of self-harm are precursor to the actual act of suicide. Such thoughts are caused by many factors but in this study, the role of childhood adversities and resilience were examined. Three hundred and fifty students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka were randomly selected from three faculties. Their ages range from 17 -25 (M=20.2 years, SD= 1.3) gender: girls consisted of 183 and boys 160. Three instruments were used for the study namely:  The Child Abuse and Trauma Scale, Brief Resilience Scale for Adolescents and Suicide Ideation Scale. Cross sectional survey design and multiple regression statistics were employed. The ANOVA summary showed these determinants were significant at F (df 4; 349) = F -3.130. The regression co-efficient table showed that only emotional abuse significantly predicted suicidal ideation at .12 P < .05. Other independent factors were not significant predictors of suicidal ideation. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended approaches that factors that cause or contribute to childhood adverse experiences should be avoided in order to mitigate suicide ideation.