The relationship between childhood psychological abuse and college students' suicidal ideation: A three-level meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between childhood psychological abuse and suicidal ideation among college students using a three-level meta-analytic approach, and to identify potential moderators.

METHOD: A comprehensive search of Chinese (CNKI, WanFang, VIP) and English (WOS, PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest) databases was conducted up to September 12, 2025. A total of 31 eligible studies (116 effect sizes, N = 862,132) were included. A three-level random-effects model was employed to account for dependency among effect sizes.

RESULTS

Childhood psychological abuse was positively and significantly associated with suicidal ideation (r = 0.479, 95% CI [0.348, 0.610], p < 0.001), representing a large effect size. The type of abuse significantly moderated this relationship, with sexual abuse showing the strongest association (r = 0.319) compared to other forms. Age, gender, cultural individualism, and measurement tools did not significantly moderate the association.

CONCLUSION

The findings underscore the robust link between childhood psychological abuse and suicidal ideation, particularly for sexual abuse, and highlight the need for targeted assessment and intervention strategies.