The predictive role of psychotic-like experiences in suicidal ideation among technical secondary school and college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown the strong association between psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and suicide. However, the predictive role of PLEs in suicidal ideation (SI) during the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear. AIMS: This study aimed to explore the association between PLEs before the pandemic and SI during the pandemic among late adolescents. METHODS: A total of 938 technical secondary school and college students completed both waves of the online survey before and during the pandemic. PLEs were assessed through the 15-item Positive Subscale of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences. SI was evaluated by the frequency of SI during the pandemic. RESULTS: In early stage of the pandemic, most students had low frequent SI, and only 3.3% students showed high frequent SI. Compared to the low frequent group, the high frequent group exhibited significantly higher levels of PLEs (p < 0.001) and scored lower in resilience (p = .001) and perceived social support (p = .008) across the two timepoints. PLEs were significantly associated with higher risk of high frequent SI (OR = 2.56, 95%: 1.07–6.13), while better resilience (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.88–0.99) and stronger perceived social support (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93–0.99) appeared to be protective factors. No interactions were found among PLEs and other psychosocial and psychological factors. CONCLUSIONS: PLEs may increase the risk of SI in early stage of the pandemic, while good resilience and adequate social support can help weaken the risk. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-023-05025-y.