The Relationship Between Social Exclusion and Suicidal Ideation: The Mediating Role of Psychological Flexibility

Objective: To explore the relationship between social exclusion and suicidal ideation and its mechanism of action. Methods: 242 college students were surveyed using the Social Exclusion Scale for College Students, the Chinese version of the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire-Fusion (CFQ-F), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (A&A) Second Edition, and the Self-Rating Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SRS). Results: Both cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance dimensions of psychological flexibility fully mediated the relationship between social exclusion and suicidal ideation. Conclusion: Social exclusion acts on suicidal ideation in the university population through psychological flexibility, and interventions on psychological flexibility may be beneficial in mitigating the negative effects of social exclusion.