The role of emotional regulation in the relationship between traumatic exposure and suicide ideation among adolescents

Globally, adolescents need to develop emotional regulation skills to manage ever burgeoning challenges. Rising incidence of suicidal behaviours and escalation in the environmental stressors of South African society further warrant adolescents’ development of appropriate management strategies with regard to their emotions. This study aimed to investigate the role of emotional reactivity, as an indicator of emotional regulation, in the relationship between traumatic exposure and suicide ideation among adolescents. A biographical questionnaire, the emotional reactivity sub-scale of the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RSCA), the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire for Adolescents (SIQ-A), and the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire (SLESQ) were used to gather information from participants. The study was approached using a cross-sectional and correlation design. Results were analysed by means of an analysis of variance for the main effects between trauma exposure, emotional reactivity and suicide ideation as well as a moderated regression analysis to explore the moderating effect of emotional reactivity on the remaining variables. The results of the main effects were indicative of a significant and unique contribution by both trauma exposure and emotional reactivity to the variance in suicide ideation. The regression analysis, however, found that emotional reactivity does not have a moderating effect on the relationship between traumatic exposure and suicide ideation. Further research on stressful life experiences, emotional regulation and suicide ideation is recommended using alternative measurements for emotional regulation/dysregulation in future research.