Investigation of suicidal thoughts of emerging adults in the context of the ıntegrated motivational-volitional suicide model

The aim of this study is to test the motivation stage of the Integrated Motivational-Volitional (IMV) Suicide Model, which explains how suicidal ideation arise, in a sample of emerging adults (aged 18-26) from Türkiye. The study employed a quantitative approach, utilizing exploratory and predictive correlational designs, and collected data from 503 participants through various measurement tools. The analyses included independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple linear regression, and structural equation modelling (SEM). According to the research results, suicidal ideations do not differ according to gender and place of residence; suicidal ideations decrease as the perceived socioeconomic level increases; high school graduates have more suicidal thoughts than associate degree and undergraduate students. Defeat, entrapment, being ignored, and ostracized predicted suicidal ideation with great power. According to the SEM results, entrapment did not mediate the relationship between defeat and suicidal ideation. Self-critical rumination partially mediated the relationship between defeat and entrapment. Sequential partial mediation was observed for being ignored and ostracized in the relationship between entrapment and suicidal ideation. Additionally, entrapment fully mediated the relationship between self-critical rumination and suicidal ideation. Among these findings, only the pathway from "defeat – entrapment - suicidal ideation" did not support the model, whereas all other results were consistent with and supportive of the IMV Suicide Model. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the IMV Suicide Model may be largely functional in understanding the dynamics of the arise of suicidal ideation and in suicide risk assessments in a sample of emerging adults in Türkiye. Moreover, the associations between self-critical rumination, being ignored, an ostracized with suicidal ideation have been either scarcely addressed in the literature or explored for the first time in this study. By identifying these mediating pathways, the research offers a unique contribution to the suicide literature, both theoretically and culturally.