Predicting Suicide Attempts through Feeling Alone, Distress Tolerance, and Parental Bonds

Feeling alone and enduring distress are risk factors for suicidal thoughts, while parental bonds are protective factors. However, the complex mechanisms behind these factors have not been identified among people with a history of suicide attempts. Therefore, the present study aimed to predict suicide attempts through distress tolerance, feeling alone, and parental bonds in people with a history of suicide attempts.

The current research is a descriptive-correlational study, and the statistical population included all people with a history of suicide attempts in Isfahan, Iran, from among whom 120 people were selected through convenience sampling. The research tools included parental bond questionnaires by Parker et al. (1979), distress tolerance by Simmons and Gaher (2005), feelings of loneliness by Russell et al. (1980), and attempted suicide was made by the researcher. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive methods, including Mean and Standard deviation and inferential statistics (e.g., Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis) using the SPSS software (version 27) and PLS3 statistical software.

The results showed that among the predictor variables, feeling alone had the highest predictive power (64.7%), and in the second step, with the addition of parental bond with the mother, it increased to 0.701%, and in the third step, with the addition of Parenting bond with father reached 0.729%, and in fourth step with the addition of distress tolerance, it reached 0.743%, all of which are statistically significant.

Based on the findings of the present research, we can point out the influential role of feeling alone in predicting suicide attempts, and the need for families and policy-makers to pay attention to this prominent factor can play a major role in reducing suicide rate.