Background: The study aims to identify the underlying causes, risks and protection factors in the field of suicidal behavior among pedagogical students to understand and reduce the prevalence of victimization and suicide in the education system.
Subject and methods: The analysis of suicidal risk factors and protective mechanisms among pedagogical students is carried out based on the results of psychological testing, correlation and factor analysis.
Results: Results of the study show that the following two factors greatly influence suicidal behavior among pedagogical students. Firstly, there is "Psychological (personal) risk factor of suicidal behavior", which combines indicators of destructive personality of students, leading to suicidal behavior. Secondly, there is "Conflict socio-environmental risk factor of suicidal behavior" that combines indicators of disharmonious upbringing and disharmonious relationships with the immediate environment. Moreover, in stressful situations, most future teachers from the "risk group" use non-constructive strategies of the protective mechanisms "projection" and "regression" and have a high level of an overall tension index of these mechanisms.
Conclusions: It is found that the suicidal factors, characteristic for pedagogical students, do not differ from the suicidal factors characteristic for students from other specialties. These factors affect a large number of pedagogical students (41.5%). There might be several risk factors at once, which increases the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and actions. The results of the study can be used to predict and prevent suicidal behavior among pedagogical students and increase the effectiveness of the psychological services of universities.