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World J Psychiatry. Sep 19, 2026; 16(9): 120630
Published online Sep 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.120630
Published online Sep 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.120630
Harsh parenting and suicidal ideation of undergraduates: The mediating role of psychache and the moderating role of resilience
Jia-Xi Peng, Mental Health Education Center, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan Province, China
Li-Feng Bai, Ting Xue, Aviation University of Air Force, Changchun 130022, Jilin Province, China
Jian-Quan Tian, Department of Clinical Psychology, Naval Medical Center of PLA, Shanghai 200433, China
Co-corresponding authors: Li-Feng Bai and Jian-Quan Tian.
Author contributions: Peng JX, Bai LF, Xue T, and Tian JQ made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; took part in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; Bai LF and Tian JQ contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: The “answering-reviewers” file was not created using an AI tool.
Supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China, No. 25BSH104.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Chengdu University, approval No. 293721687.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Jian-Quan Tian, Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Naval Medical Center of PLA, No. 338 Huaihai Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
Received: March 4, 2026
Revised: March 30, 2026
Accepted: May 7, 2026
Published online: September 19, 2026
Processing time: 173 Days and 18.5 Hours
Revised: March 30, 2026
Accepted: May 7, 2026
Published online: September 19, 2026
Processing time: 173 Days and 18.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study reveals a moderated mediation model linking harsh parenting to suicidal ideation among college students. Psychache partially mediates this relationship, accounting for approximately 36% of the total effect, while resilience moderates all three pathways (harsh parenting - psychache, harsh parenting - suicidal ideation, and psychache - suicidal ideation). Under high resilience conditions, the detrimental effects of harsh parenting are substantially attenuated. These findings highlight the importance of targeting psychache reduction and resilience enhancement in suicide prevention programs for college students from adverse family backgrounds.