Pj. Dean et al., THE ESCAPE THEORY OF SUICIDE IN COLLEGE-STUDENTS - TESTING A MODEL THAT INCLUDES PERFECTIONISM, Suicide & life-threatening behavior, 26(2), 1996, pp. 181-186
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.