The Relationship Between Parental Bonding and Suicidal Ideation: The Mediating Role of Feelings of Self-Conscious Affect (Shame and Guilt) and Separation-Individuation

Background: Suicide is regarded as a major public health concern in the world. Identifying factors related to suicidal ideation and prevention of suicidal thoughts play a key role in reducing suicide rates. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between parental bonding and suicidal ideation with regard to the mediating role of feelings of shame, guilt, and separation-individuation. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 573 university students were selected as the sample by adopting multi-stage cluster sampling. Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), Beck Scale of Suicide Ideation (BSSI), test of self-conscious affect (TOSCA-3), and Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI) were also used to conduct the present study. Structural equation modeling, SPSS version 21, and AMOS version 24 were used to analyze the data. Results: Maternal bonding had a direct and significant relationship with suicidal ideation (0/27), whereas the direct path between paternal bonding to suicidal ideation was non-significant (0/02). From among the mediating variables, only self-conscious affect (shame and guilt) had a significant relationship in the association between parental bonding (maternal and paternal) and suicidal ideation (0/20). Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between separation from mother (0/03) and separation from father (0/07) with suicidal thoughts. Conclusions: It was concluded that parental bonding – maternal bonding, in particular – played an important role in the emergence of suicidal ideation. In addition, it was found that dysfunctional parental bonding may have prepared the ground for the emergence of suicidal ideation through feelings of shame and guilt. Therefore, it was recommended that a special attention should be paid to the important roles of shame and guilt when developing treatment protocols for those vulnerable to suicide.