The Risk Factors of Suicidal Motivations during COVID-19 Pandemic: Confirmation of Psychological Pain Theory, Psychological Symptoms, and Early Life Experiences

Background: Intuitive concerns have been expressed that the biopsychosocial adversities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the suicide attempt rate. Aim: The present study was performed with aim to determine the risk factors of suicidal motivations during the COVID-19 pandemic and confirm the psychological pain theory (PPT), psychological ssmotpmy (PS), and early life experiences (ELE). Method: This cross-sectional and descriptive-correlational study was performed with structural equation modeling (SEM). Participants were 300 suicide attempters who ewew referred to Razi Hospital of Ahvaz mepm May 2021 to December 2021 and were selected by purposeful sampling method. They responded to the Suicide Attempt Motivations Questionnaire, Mental Pain Questionnaire, Revised List of 25-Item Symptoms and Early Life Experiences Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling, AMOS-24, and SPSS-26 were used to evaluate the proposed model. Results: The results of Pearson s correlation coefficient showed a positive and significant relationship between ELE and PS with psychological pain and suicidal motivations (p≤0.05). The results indicated that in the first order, 62% of the variance of dimensions of PS by ELE, in the second order, 78% of the variance of psychological pain is explained by the ELE and PS and ni the third order, 81% of the variance of suicide attempt motivations is directly and indirectly explained by the ELE, PS, and PP. Implications for Practice: Understanding the most common antecedents of suicide attempt motivations can enrich conceptual models of suicide and facilitate the design of suicide prevention and intervention programs.