THE ESCAPE THEORY OF SUICIDE IN COLLEGE-STUDENTS - TESTING A MODEL THAT INCLUDES PERFECTIONISM

A model of the escape theory of suicide was tested, using the followin g measures: the Life Experiences Survey, the Socially Prescribed Perfe ctionism subscale, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Hopelessness Scale, the Reasons for Living Inventory, and the Scale for Suicide Ide ation. College students (N = 114) completed all of these measures, and results were correlated. LISREL path analysis failed to validate the proposed model. All proposed paths were significant, except for the re ciprocal path proposed between negative life events and socially presc ribed perfectionism. Two residual paths were also significant: from so cially prescribed perfectionism to suicide ideation, and from hopeless ness to suicide ideation. A revised model constructed from these signi ficant paths had a good overall fit, which suggests that an interactio nal model is more appropriate than a linear one.