Suicide affects hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year. Despite many coordinated efforts to address this problem, in multiple domains, these numbers have risen over the last decade. The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide is a relatively recent theory that has received considerable attention and investigation. Perceived burdensomeness is one of the constructs from this theory. The belief that you are a burden on others is a robust predictor of suicidal ideation and, to a less understood extent, suicidal behavior. To my knowledge, few studies have looked at the factors that lead to perceived burdensomeness. This study was conducted to begin to address this gap in the literature. Attributional style, hopelessness, socially-prescribed perfectionism, and self-esteem were identified as potential vulnerability factors for perceived burdensomeness. One hundred twenty individuals were surveyed about these constructs and perceived burdensomeness. Participants were also asked to read three vignettes based on interviews with individuals with lived experiences related to suicide attempts. Following each vignette, participants were asked to report the level of perceived burdensomeness that they anticipated that they would feel in that situation as an additional analogue measure of perceived burdensomeness. It was found that attributional style, socially-prescribed perfectionism, and self-esteem predicted current levels of perceived burdensomeness. Self-esteem was the only variable that predicted analogue levels of perceived burdensomeness, beyond current levels of depression. This exploratory study has the potential to contribute to the literature by guiding and informing future research related to better understanding or reducing perceived burdensomeness.

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Veterans in the United States experience heightened suicide risk, compared to civilians, accounting for approximately 7,400 suicides annually. Among many potential risk factors, insomnia (i.e., difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep) is prevalent in veterans. Individuals with insomnia often encounter difficulties in daily functioning (e.g., fatigue, difficulty concentrating, decreased work performance) and, as a result, may experience perceived burdensomeness (i.e., perceptions of being restrictive or taxing to others), a known contributor to suicide risk. However, not all veterans who suffer from insomnia or perceive themselves as a burden engage in suicidal behaviors, perhaps due to individual-level protective factors. One such factor, self-compassion (i.e., the extension of kindness to oneself in adverse or difficult times), is comprised of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, and may reduce suicide risk by buffering against negative self-evaluations regarding sleeplessness and performance. However, this premise has not been previously investigated; therefore, in the current study, we examined the mediating role of perceived burdensomeness on the relation between insomnia and suicide risk and, further, the moderating role of self-compassion on these paths. At the bivariate level, we hypothesized that insomnia, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation would be positively related, and self-compassion would be inversely related to these factors. At the multivariate level, we hypothesized that the relation between insomnia and suicide risk would be mediated by perceived burdensomeness, and that this association would be moderated by self-compassion on all model paths; such that increased insomnia would be associated with higher levels of perceived burdensomeness and, in turn, suicide risk, and that self-compassion would weaken these deleterious linkages. Participants (N=551; Mean Age=50.4, SD=16.6) were community-dwelling veterans, most of whom were White (85.1%) males (69.3%) and were recruited via online invitations distributed to veteran-related social media groups and organizations. Participants completed an online survey, including: Insomnia Severity Index, Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire, Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire – Revised, and SelfCompassion Scale Short-Form. All bivariate hypotheses were supported, with significance at the p

Suicide is of great concern nationally and has become a significant social problem within the last 10years. One group of growing concern is those who served in the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the impact of a suicide attempt on their career retention. Previous studies had focused on potential risk factors that may lead an individual to attempt suicide, but there was limited research on the impact of a suicide attempt on an individual's career retention. It was unknown if the desire of USCG veterans to retain their career can primarily influence their decision not to attempt suicide. The experiential impact of suicide on the career retention of the participants was examined in this study. The study method was planned to be a qualitative phenomenological study but changed to a qualitative descriptive design. The theoretical framework comprised an application of Joiner's interpersonal psychological theory of suicidal behavior and Tinto's integration model for retention relevance and practical implications. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data from 12 USCG veterans to address the primary research question as to the lived experience of USCG members who have attempted suicide while on active duty that are currently veterans. NVivo analysis indicated that participants experienced difficulties with career, work, and personal relationships before their suicide attempt. Themes were similar for participants who stayed or left service after a suicide attempt. The results also indicated that all participants needed to receive support from people in their life after the attempts. Data suggested peer support was critical for retention and contributed to the promotion of a confident, healthy workforce and social growth in communities and society after an attempted suicide.

Sleep disturbances are prevalent in primary care patients and can be exacerbated by interpersonal dysfunction and depression. As well, thwarted interpersonal needs (TIN), including thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, contribute to depression. However, the presence of gratitude, a cognitive-emotional protective factor, may improve symptoms. We longitudinally examined the mediating role of depressive symptoms on the relation between TIN and sleep disturbances, and the moderating role of gratitude on the TIN-sleep disturbances and depression-sleep disturbances linkages. Our primary care patient sample (N = 223) completed self-report surveys at baseline (T1) and at a one-year follow-up (T2; n = 97). Patients with greater TIN reported more depressive symptoms (T1) and, in turn, increased sleep disturbances (T2). Gratitude did not moderate the belongingness model but, in the burdensomeness model, buffered the linkage between burdensomeness and sleep disturbances and strengthened the relation between depressive symptoms and sleep disturbances. Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed.

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