De modererende rol van sociale verbondenheid op de relatie tussen perfectionisme en suïcidaal gedrag bij Nederlandse adolescenten.

Abstract

Background: Each year, about 70 Dutch adolescents die by suicide. Although the suicide rates in the Netherlands are stable in the last few years, suicide is still one of the leading death causes among adolescents. There are many studies that investigated the protective factors that can prevent suicide or suicidal behavior in adolescents, but few of these looked specifically at the relation between suicidal behavior, perfectionism and social connectedness with the adolescents’ school or class. Aim: To investigate the relationship between perfectionism, suicidal behavior and social connectedness. Method: 1444 Dutch adolescents aged 12 to 14 participated in this study. Baseline data from a cluster-randomised controlled trial was used. The VOZZ questionnaire was used to investigate the degree of suicidal behavior in adolescents. The ‘FMPS’ was used to determine the adolescents’ perfectionism. Finally, four questions were used to investigate the adolescents’ sense of belonging to their class and school. Regression analyses and a moderation analysis were performed. Results: The results show a significant positive relation between perfectionism and suicidal behavior, and a significant negative relation between adolescent’s sense of belonging to their class and school and suicidal behavior. Social connectedness to the school or class is found to be a moderator for this relation. Conclusion: Perfectionism in adolescents can be damaging. Adolescents who experience perfectionism are in higher risk of developing suicidal behavior. Social connectedness to adolescents’ school or class can be a protective factor for the relation between perfectionism and suicidal behavior. Future research should be longitudinal to further investigate these relations.