Hope Under Assault: Understanding the Impact of Sexual Assault on the Relation Between Hope and Suicidal Risk in College Students

The present study sought to examine for how hope and sexual assault are involved in suicidal risk in a sample of 325 college students. Specifically, we were interested to examine whether sexual assault may play an additive as well as interactive role in the prediction of suicidal risk (viz., suicidal behaviors & reasons for living) above and beyond hope. Results from regression analyses indicated that hope and sexual assault were important and unique predictors of suicidal risk in students. Moreover, we found some support for a Hope x Sexual Assault interaction in predicting both suicidal behaviors and reasons for living. However, only the findings for suicidal behaviors remained after controlling for concurrent depressive symptomatology. Some important implications of the present findings are discussed.