ADHD and Suicidal Ideation: The Roles of Emotion Regulation and Depressive Symptoms Among College Students.
OBJECTIVE
ADHD appears to increase risk for both depression and suicidal ideation, while ADHD and depression are also associated with emotion regulation deficits. Thus, we evaluated the degree to which depression mediated the association between ADHD and suicidal ideation, as well as the degree to which emotion regulation deficits moderated the association ADHD shared with depression and suicidal ideation in a nonclinical sample.


METHODS
Participants were undergraduate psychology students (N = 627; age: M = 20.23, SD = 1.40; 60% female; 47% European American) who completed an online assessment.


RESULTS
Results indicated that ADHD indirectly increased suicidal ideation through depression. Emotion regulation deficits of accepting negative emotions, emotional awareness, and goal-oriented behavior moderated the indirect effect of ADHD on suicidal ideation.


CONCLUSIONS
Depression appears to play an important mediating role in suicidal ideation for college students with ADHD, and specific emotion regulation deficits appear to amplify the effects of ADHD on depression and suicidal ideation.
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA vaneck.k@gmail.com.
Kathryn
K
Van Eck
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Elizabeth
E
Ballard
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Shelley
S
Hart
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA.
Ali
A
Newcomer
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Rashelle
R
Musci
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Kate
K
Flory
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D055815:Young Adult
ADHD; depression; emotion regulation; suicide; young adults