TY  - EJOU
AU  - Chen, Wenqin 
AU  - Wen, Yuting 
AU  - Hong, Chen 
AU  - Ma, Nan 
AU  - Yi, Wenting 
AU  - Peng, Guiliang 
AU  - Hu, Yanyan 
AU  - He, Yang 

TI  - Psychache and suicidal ideation among firefighters: The chain mediation effect of hopelessness and nostalgia
T2  - Journal of Psychology in Africa

PY  - 2025
VL  - 35
IS  - 3
SN  - 1815-5626

AB  - This study tested a chain mediation model on whether hopelessness and nostalgia play a mediating role in psychache and suicidal ideation of firefighters. A total of 652 firefighters participated in the survey (male = 94.94%; mean age = 23.71 years, SD = 4.18 years). The firefighters completed the Chinese Revised Psychache Scale (PAS), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Southampton Nostalgia Scale (SNS), and Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). The path analysis results indicated that psychache positively predicted suicidal ideation. Hopelessness plays a significant mediating role between psychache and suicidal ideation further strengthening this relationship. In contrast, nostalgia mediates and weakened the relationship between psychache and suicidal ideation. Hopelessness and nostalgia jointly constructed a chain mediating effect between psychache and suicidal ideation, for higher suicidal ideation with higher hopelessness and lower nostalgia. The findings align with the Three-Step Theory of Suicide, which proposes that suicidal ideation results from the combination of pain and hopelessness and that connectedness is a key protective factor against escalating ideation. Therefore, interventions to reduce suicidal ideation in firefighters should aim to enhance their nostalgia, while reducing sense of hopelessness.
KW  - psychache; suicidal ideation; hopelessness; nostalgia; firefighters; chain mediation model

DO  - 10.32604/jpa.2025.068039