The purpose of this study was to verify the mediating role of depressive symptoms between excessive daytime sleepiness and suicidal ideation in college students. Of the 6944 participants, 2609 (37.6%) were male and 4335 (62.4%) were female. College students with excessive daytime sleepiness (p < 0.001) and those with depressive symptoms (p < 0.001) were more likely to have suicidal ideation. Moreover, both excessive daytime sleepiness (β = 0.14, 95% CI: 1.01−1.32) and depressive symptoms (β = 1.47, 95% CI: 3.80−5.00) were associated with suicidal ideation. The effect size of the mediating role of depressive symptoms in excessive daytime sleepiness to suicidal ideation was 50.41% for the entire sample, 58.33% for males, and 42.98% for females. Depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between excessive daytime sleepiness and suicidal ideation. The timely assessment of depressive symptoms in college students with excessive daytime sleepiness, and intervention, may reduce their risk of suicidal ideation.
Keywords: college students; depressive symptoms; excessive daytime sleepiness; mediation analysis; suicidal ideation.