Positive mental health mediates the relationship between physical activity and suicide-related outcomes: a three-year fo
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Positive mental health mediates the relationship between physical activity and suicide-related outcomes: a three-year follow-up study Julia Brailovskaia 1
&
Tobias Teismann 1 & Jürgen Margraf 1
Accepted: 28 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Suicide belongs to the leading causes of death worldwide. The present longitudinal study investigated physical activity (for example jogging, cycling) and positive mental health (PMH) as potential factors that can reduce the risk of suicide ideation and suicidal behavior. Data of 223 participants (79.4% women; Mage (SDage) = 22.85 (4.05)) were assessed at two measurement time points over a three-year period (2016: first measurement = baseline (BL); 2019: second measurement = follow-up (FU)) via online surveys. The results reveal a significant positive relationship between higher physical activity (BL) and higher PMH (BL). Higher scores of both variables were significantly negatively linked to lower suicide-related outcomes (FU). Moreover, the association between higher physical activity (BL) and lower suicide-related outcomes (FU) was significantly mediated by higher PMH (BL). The current findings demonstrate that physical activity in combination with PMH can reduce the risk of suiciderelated outcomes. Fostering physical activity and PMH may be relevant strategies in the prevention of suicide ideation and suicide behavior. Keywords Physical activity . Suicide ideation . Suicide behavior/suicide attempts . Positive mental health
Introduction Worldwide, suicide is among the major causes of deaths. Every year, about 800,000 people die to suicide (World Health Organization 2014). In Germany, a total of 9,396 suicide deaths were registered in the year 2018; on average 25 people died every day to suicide (German Federal Statistical Office 2020). Especially, young individuals who belong to the age group that is termed as emerging adulthood (18 to 29 years; Arnett 2000) are at enhanced risk for suicide ideation and suicidal behavior in Germany as well as in other countries (e.g., De Catanzaro 1991, 1995; Nock et al. 2014; Voss et al. 2019; World Health Organization 2014).
* Julia Brailovskaia [email protected] Tobias Teismann [email protected] Jürgen Margraf [email protected] 1
Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Massenbergstr. 9-13, 44787 Bochum, Germany
Suicide ideation – including the passive wish to die as well as concrete considerations how to die by suicide – is an important predictor of suicide attempts, i.e., self-injurious actions intended to kill oneself (O’Connor and Nock 2014). Jahangard et al. (2020, p.76) described suicide ideation as “the result of biased social cognition, social impairment and disconnected social life”. Individuals at risk for suicide typically perceive themselves as a burden for their social network and believe that their death will be a benefit for others (Joiner 2005; Joiner et al. 2016). Suicide-related outcom
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