Coping, meaning in life, and suicidal manifestations: Examining gender differences

Life meaning and coping strategies were investigated as statistical predict ors of suicidal manifestations in a sample of 298 university undergraduates . Participants completed measures of hopelessness, sense of coherence, purp ose in life, coping for stressful situations, suicide ideation, prior suici de attempts, and seif-reported likelihood of future suicidal behavior. Mode rated multiple regression techniques examined the incremental validity of l ife meaning by coping interactions for predicting each suicide variable sep arately by gender, The interaction of sense of coherence and emotion-orient ed coping made a unique, significant contribution to the statistical predic tion of all suicide variables for women. For men, the interaction between s ense of coherence and emotion-oriented coping contributed significantly to the statistical prediction of suicide ideation. All interactions remained s ignificant when hopelessness was statistically controlled. The hypothesis t hat life meaning acts as a buffer between coping style and suicidal manifes tations was partially supported. Implications for suicide prevention and in tervention are discussed, (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.