- Resilience negatively associated with psychological distress and overall suicidality in a representative Taiwanese general population sample.
- Self-rated physical health and self-efficacy were strongly associated with overall suicide risk and are potential targets for prevention.
- Resilience had a modest independent effect alongside demographics and self-rated health, together explaining 16.8% of variance in suicide risk.
BMC Psychiatry. 2026 May 30. doi: 10.1186/s12888-026-08196-6. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Studies on protective factors of suicidal risk are limited. Resilience has gained importance as a factor associated with psychological distress. However, the relationship between psychosocial factors, resilience, and suicidality has not been extensively explored among the general public. The study aimed to understand the relationship between psychological distress, suicide risks, and resilience.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine a representative sample of the Taiwanese general population. The population-based survey investigated the associations between resilience, psychological distress, and suicide-related features in 2017. The measurements included self-rated health, a 5-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale, a 9-item Concise Mental Health Checklist, a Brief Resilient Coping Scale, and suicide ideation/attempt across different time points (in the past week, month, year, and lifetime). Linear regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the extent to which the demographics, perceived health conditions and resilience correlated with overall suicide risk.
RESULTS: A total of 2098 participants (50.6% females) were enrolled. The average resilience score in the general population was 16.75, with higher resilience score for those married and in a white-collar employment. Resilience showed positive correlations with increasing self-efficacy, self-rated mental health, and self-rated physical health, while displaying negative associations with psychological distress and overall suicidality. Linear regression analysis identified age, gender, employment status, marital status, self-rated physical health, self-efficacy, and resilience as predictors of overall suicide risk, explaining 16.8% of the variance.
CONCLUSIONS: Self-rated physical health, self-efficacy, and resilience were all associated with overall suicide risk in this study. Resilience also showed a statistically significant but modest independent effect in the multivariable model, suggesting that it contributes to suicide risk alongside these related psychological constructs. These findings indicate that perceptions of physical health and self-efficacy may be important targets for suicide prevention efforts, while strategies to strengthen resilient coping could also play a supportive role.
CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
PMID:42218411 | DOI:10.1186/s12888-026-08196-6
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