Childhood Trauma and Suicidal Ideation in Emerging Adults: The Mediating Roles of Ego-Resiliency and Attitudes Toward the Mother

Abstract

This study examined whether ego-resiliency and attitudes toward the mother mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation among emerging adults. Employing convenience sampling, 605 non-clinical emerging adults (452 females, 74.7%; 153 males, 25.3%) completed validated self-report measures of childhood trauma, suicidal ideation, ego-resiliency, and attitudes toward the mother. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping (5,000 resamples) was used to test mediation effects. Results showed that childhood trauma was positively associated with suicidal ideation and negative attitudes toward the mother, and was negatively associated with ego-resiliency. Ego-resiliency significantly mediated the trauma–suicidal ideation pathway, whereas attitudes toward the mother did not. These findings underscore ego-resiliency’s protective role against suicidal ideation in trauma-exposed emerging adults and suggest that interventions to enhance ego-resiliency may mitigate suicidal risk.