OBJECTIVETo investigate the suicide attitudes of college students and analyze the impact of the perception of life purpose and meaning of life on their suicide attitudes using structural equation modeling.

METHODSA total of 1050 college students were tested by Suicide Attitude Questionnaire (QSA), Purpose in Life test (PIL) and Chinese version of Meaning of Life questionnaire (C-MLQ). A theoretical model was established for confirming the influence of the purpose in life and meaning in life on suicide attitudes of the college students.

RESULTSThe college students had generally a negative attitude towards suicide. The female students tended to show more objective attitudes towards suicide and the students from rural areas had a stronger attitude against euthanasia.The meanings and purposes in life were closely correlated with the attitudes towards suicide, and the structural equation modeling well fitted the data (Χ(2)/df=1.924, GFI=0.936, AGFI=0.915, NFI=0.937, CFI=0.940, and RMSEA=0.045). The perception of meaning and purposes in life had a direct predictive value on the suicide attitude of the college students, and the presumptions derived from the theoretical model were strongly supported by structural equation modeling.

CONCLUSIONSThe perceptions in meanings in life and purposes in livelihood have important influence on the suicide attitudes of college students, and intervention with effective life education should be administered to guide the suicide attitude of the college students.