title: [Suicide exposure and its modulatory effects on relations between life events and suicide risk in Chinese college students].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the incidence of suicide exposure and its association with suicide risk in Chinese college students, and study the modulatory effects of suicide exposure on the relations between life events and suicide risks.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 8202 college students from 12 Chinese colleges and universities in mainland China completed a cross-sectional survey that included suicidal behaviors questionnaire-revised (SBQ-R), Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ASLEC), suicide exposure questionnaire, social and demographic characteristics questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of exposure to suicide events involving close relatives and acquaintances were 3.9% and 11.8% among sampled Chinese college students, respectively. Students exposed to suicide events involving close relatives had significantly higher total SBQ-R scores than those who did not (5.51∓2.44 vs 4.68∓2.11, P<0.01), and suicide events of acquaintances were also associated with significantly increased total SBQ-R scores (5.51∓2.44 vs 4.68∓2.11, P<0.01); these suicides events all contributed to significantly increased rates of suicidal ideation, suicide plans and suicide attempts in the college students (P<0.05). The life events showed a significant positive correlation with suicide risks (0.11≤r≤0.26, P<0.01). The interactions of exposure to suicide events involving close relatives and acquaintances and the interactions of life events and suicide of close relatives for suicide risk were not significant (P>0.05), but exposure to acquaintance suicide events moderated the effects of life events on suicide risk (P<0.01), and the college students with a high level of life events and history of acquaintance suicide had the highest risk for suicide.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Chinese college students, the risk of suicide is closely associated with exposure to suicide events and life events, and exposure to suicide events involving acquaintances can modulate the effects of life events on suicide risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. E-mail: jiubozhao@126.com.
authors.forename: Jiubo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jingbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Xueling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaoyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult