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The Association Between Depression, Suicidal Ideation and Psychological Strains in College Students: A Cross-National Study

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A Correction to this article was published on 10 September 2018

This article has been updated

Abstract

Objective

This study examined the differences of psychological strains between Chinese and American college students and discussed how strains may influence individuals’ suicidal ideation and depression.

Participants/methods

A total of 539 college students (298 from China and 241 from the U.S.) were recruited in March 2016 to complete the survey study. Multiple linear regressions were used in data analysis.

Results

Students in America had higher scores on depression and stress than students in China, while students in China rated higher on suicidal ideation than students in America. In contrast of students in America facing more coping strains, students in China were confronting more value strains in their life.

Conclusion

The cross-cultural variations in the effect of psychological strains have been substantiated in current study, indicating that understanding the psychological strains in different cultural contexts is necessary for the early intervention and prevention in college aged populations.

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Change history

  • 10 September 2018

    The original version of the article unfortunately contained an error in acknowledgement section. The corrected acknowledgement is: This research was supported by a grant of Beijing Natural Science Foundation (9174046), for which the first author is PI.

Notes

  1. Cite as: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Suicide Prevention Resource Center. 2011. After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc.

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Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a grant of Beijing National Science Foundation (9174046), for which the first author is PI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sociology and Psychology, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, 100081, China

    Sibo Zhao & Jie Zhang

  2. Department of Sociology, Buffalo State College, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, 14222, USA

    Jie Zhang

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  1. Sibo Zhao
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  2. Jie Zhang
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Correspondence to Sibo Zhao.

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All the authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Zhao, S., Zhang, J. The Association Between Depression, Suicidal Ideation and Psychological Strains in College Students: A Cross-National Study. Cult Med Psychiatry 42, 914–928 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-018-9591-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-018-9591-x

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