Reasons for Living and Suicide Ideation in Young Adults From Divorced and Non-Divorced Homes

The purpose of this study was to examine reasons for living in young adults (17 to 24) from divorced and non-divorced homes. Participants included 281 individuals (128 men, 153 women). Eighty-nine subjects were reared in divorced homes. The Reasons for Living Inventory, a Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire with items to assess age, gender, parental marital status, and various questions related to being reared in a divorced home were administered to all participants. Results of the study revealed a main effect for suicide ideation status on the total score of the RFL, with non-ideators reporting significantly higher reasons for living than ideators. No main effects were found for gender or parent marital status. Thus, the adaptive cognitive characteristics which are measured by the RFL were no different in young adults who were reared in divorced homes when compared to those reared in non-divorced homes