The relative contribution of diagnostic and psychosocial variables to severity of suicidal ideation

The present study examined the relative contribution of diagnostic and psyc hosocial factors to the prediction of severity of suicidal ideation in a sa mple of 78 college students. Using hierarchical regression analyses to cont rol for each set of factors, psychosocial variables were found to consisten tly predict level of suicidal ideation. In contrast, diagnostic variables i ncluding diagnosis of substance abuse and composite scores for depression a nd anxiety were unrelated to level of suicidality. An examination of indivi dual diagnoses revealed no predictable relationships with severity of suici dality in this population. The results were discussed from several methodol ogical viewpoints.