Cultural Differences, Perfectionism, and Suicidal Risk in a College Population: Does Social Problem Solving Still Matter?

The relationships between cultural influences, perfectionism, social problem solving & subsequent suicidal risk were examined among 148 college students. Results indicated that ethnic status was a significant predictor of both hopelessness & suicide potential. Furthermore, perfectionism was found to add significant incremental validity for predicting variance in both outcome criteria. Social problem solving is a more useful predictor of suicide potential than of hopelessness. (43 refs.)