Exploring the inter-factor network of psychological abuse, life-event stress, and suicidal behavior: evidence from Chinese college students.

BACKGROUND

Suicide remains a leading cause of death among young adults, yet traditional mediation models often oversimplify the complex and interactive processes linking childhood psychological abuse, stress, and suicidal behavior.

OBJECTIVE

This study applied a network analytical framework to examine the inter-factor associations among dimensions of childhood psychological abuse, life-event stress responses, and suicidal behavior in Chinese college students.

METHODS

A total of 693 first-year college students completed validated self-report measures of childhood psychological abuse, stress responses to negative life experiences, and suicidal behavior. Gaussian graphical models were estimated using EBICglasso, and bridge centrality indices were computed to identify key nodes linking abuse, stress, and suicidality. Network comparison tests were conducted to examine gender differences in network structure and global connectivity.

RESULTS

The estimated network showed dense within- and cross-domain connections among psychological abuse, stress responses, and suicidal behavior. Neglect, intrusion, and arousal emerged as prominent bridge nodes linking early psychological abuse and suicidal outcomes through stress-related pathways. Network structure was invariant across genders; however, males exhibited significantly higher global network strength than females (p < 0.05), indicating stronger overall connectivity among network components.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that suicide risk emerges from dynamic interactions among interrelated psychological systems rather than from linear causal pathways. By identifying bridge nodes-particularly arousal and intrusive stress responses-this study highlights potential leverage points for targeted, trauma-informed, and culturally sensitive suicide prevention efforts among college students.