A Longitudinal Study on Psychological Maltreatment, Hopelessness, Substance Initiation Tendency and Suicide Rumination in Türkiye: A Moderated Mediation Model

We examined the relationship between psychological maltreatment and subsequent suicide rumination in a two-wave longitudinal design and explored the mediating and moderating mechanisms we hypothesized to play a role in this relationship. 254 Turkish university students (70.1% female; M = 21.72 years; SD = 3.65; age range = 18–46) participated at 12-months intervals. Findings indicated that psychological maltreatment was positively associated with suicide rumination among university students 12 months later, and hopelessness mediated this relationship longitudinally. The substance initiation tendency has served to moderate the positive effect of hopelessness on suicide rumination. Furthermore, the mediating effect of hopelessness was more pronounced in situations where the substance initiation tendency was high. These findings suggest that reducing psychological maltreatment, reducing hopelessness, and controlling substance initiation tendencies in individuals may be beneficial for suicide interventions and prevention.