Housing hardship and suicidal ideation: The mediating role of psychological resilience

Abstract

Despite growing evidence of the mental health consequences of housing hardship, its specific association with suicidal ideation and the role of psychological resilience in this pathway remain underexplored. This study examines whether housing hardship is associated with suicidal ideation and to what extent psychological resilience mediates this relationship. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, sibling fixed effects models were employed to control for unobserved family background confounders, such as genetic factors, socioeconomic background, parental mental health, family environment, or traumatic experiences. The findings indicate that housing hardship is positively associated with suicidal ideation (b = 0.027, p < 0.05) and negatively associated with psychological resilience (b = −0.058, p < 0.01), even after controlling for a set of individual-level covariates and unobserved family-level heterogeneity. Moreover, psychological resilience mediates approximately 30 % of the effect of housing hardship on suicidal ideation, suggesting that reduced resilience contributes to heightened risk. These findings highlight the critical need to incorporate housing stability into suicide prevention strategies, underscoring the significance of stable housing as a factor in reducing suicidal ideation. Additionally, promoting resilience-building within these interventions can significantly mitigate the psychological impacts of housing hardship.