Longitudinal Impact of Perfectionism on Suicidal Ideation among Chinese College Students with Perceived Academic Failure: The Roles of Rumination and Depression

Abstract

Objective

Suicide has become a nonnegligible cause of death among emerging adults, and academic performance is one of the most significant factors in Chinese college students’ suicidal ideation. Based on this, we examined the risk and protective sides of perfectionism on suicidal ideation among college students with perceived academic failure experiences.

Method

In the current study, a total of 674 Chinese college students (63.6% females, M_age = 19.96, SD = 1.31) with perceived academic failure in the past six months participated in a survey and completed self-report measures assessing perfectionism, rumination, depression, and suicidal ideation twice with a six-month interval.

Results

Negative perfectionism was a risk factor for suicidal ideation, while positive perfectionism had an opposite effect. In addition, intrusive rumination, deliberate rumination, and depression serially mediated the association between positive/negative perfectionism and suicidal ideation.

Conclusion

The results indicated perfectionism has both positive and negative sides to suicidal ideation. Clinicians might be aware of the risk and protective components of perfectionism when intervening with suicidal ideation among college students with perceived academic failure experiences.

Highlights

• The current study examined the longitudinal association between negative/positive perfectionism and suicidal ideation among college students with perceived academic failure.

• Negative perfectionism generally acted as a risk factor for suicidal ideation, while positive perfectionism showed the opposite effects.

• he serial mediation among perfectionism, rumination, depression, and suicidal ideation was formed.

Keywords:

• Depression
• perceived academic failure
• perfectionism
• rumination
• suicidal ideation

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationshipsthat could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

AUTHOR NOTES

Luming Liu, Wenchao Wang, Yangyu Lian, Xinchun Wu, Changsheng Li, and Zhihong Qiao, Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Wenchao Wang, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, 100875 Beijing, China. E-mail: [email protected]

Additional information

Funding

The current study was supported by “The Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China” [Project No. 22YJC190023].