The role of alexithymia in childhood trauma and suicide risk: A multi-group comparison between left-behind experience students and no left-behind experience students

Experiences of childhood trauma are strongly associated with subsequent suicide. However, exactly how traumatic childhood experiences influence subsequent suicide remains unclear. This study aims to explore the potential mediating effects of alexithymia on the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide risk in undergraduates. We further studied the influence of left-behind experience, a phenomenon that one or both of parents go out to work and their children are taken care of by others, in this model. The participants were 2345 undergraduates who completed online assessments, including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form, the Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire – Revised, and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Left-behind experience (LBE) students had higher scores for childhood trauma, alexithymia and suicide risk than no left-behind experience (NLBE) students. Additionally, the results show that alexithymia partially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide risk in NLBE students, although the mediating effect of alexithymia was not maintained in LBE students. Different mechanisms are involved in the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide risk between LBE and NLBE students. This suggests that we need to implement different intervention strategies for the suicide risk of these two groups of students. •Students with left-behind experience had a higher suicide risk than those without.•Alexithymia mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide risk.•Alexithymia didn't play the mediating role in left-behind experience students.