Sexual victimization is experienced by about 20% of women and two percent of men (Black et al., 2011). Disclosure of these incidences is high, with about 90% of survivors speaking out at least once about their assault (Ullman & Peter-Hagene, 2014). Though disclosure rates appear high, common reactions given by formal (e.g. law enforcement) and informal (e.g. a friend) sources are negative and counterintuitive to survivor growth (Ullman & Brecklin, 2002). Often studied with military veterans and suicide, perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belonging are tied to social disconnect and perceived rejection from interpersonal support systems, and often follow stressful life events such as trauma (Hill & Pettit, 2014; Ford & Collins, 2010; Van Orden, Cukrowicz, Witte, & Joiner, 2012). Negative reactions to disclosures, and the consequent rejection, can lead to diminished mental health, including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Ullman & Peter-Hagene, 2014; Starzynski, Ullman, Filipas, & Townsend, 2005). Furthermore, shame has been researched as a possible emotional response to experiencing a traumatic event (La Bash & Papa, 2014), and this may play a role in people’s likelihood of experiencing distress following the receipt of negative social reactions. To explore the underlying processes and outcomes related to negative social reactions upon disclosure, the following hypotheses were proposed. First, the five negative social reactions (i.e., control, blaming, distracting, egocentric, and treating differently) would be positively associated with psychological distress (i.e., depression and PTSD symptoms). Next, the five negative social reactions subscales were predicted to be positively associated with state shame, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belonging. Finally, it was predicted that the relationships between the five negative social reaction subscales and psychological distress would be mediated by state shame, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belonging. Though all five negative reactions were associated with PTSD, blame and distraction were not associated with depression. Further, blame and treating differently were associated with perceived burdensomeness, however the other negative reactions and outcome associations varied. Surprisingly, an intervening relationship of the five negative reactions, shame, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belonging, and psychological distress was not established. Implications of this study may provide important insight into relationships previously not examined with sexual assault and mental health outcomes.

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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Suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide (SISAS) are increased in poststroke patients, yet not everyone who has suffered a stroke is at risk for SISAS. Two risk factors for SISAS, marital status and burdensomeness, may be of particular relevance to poststroke patients. The majority of poststroke patients have a disability that may require help from a family member with basic functions such as dressing and bathing. It was not known if being married decreases risk of SISAS for stoke victims as shown in studies with nonpoststroke subjects or increases risk for SISAS due to its influence on feelings of burdensomeness. Guided by the interpersonal psychological theory of suicidal behavior, the purpose of this study was to examine if marital status moderates the association between burdensomeness (measured by disability level) and suicide ideation. A secondary analysis was performed of the Outcome and Assessment Information Set data, which was collected by the National Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A data sample of 1,596,962 records was obtained. This data sample included 5% of the Home Health Outcome Information and Assessment Set for the year 2008. Of those, 8,6381 (5.4%) individuals had suffered a stroke. The results suggested partial support for the hypotheses presented in this study. However, a significant moderation was found. As burdensomeness increased, suicide ideation increased in patients who were married. High levels of burdensomeness increase suicide risk to those who are married. Identifying a vulnerable population can provide potential positive social change by serving as basis for future research regarding program implementation in reducing suicide rates.

As the environmental problems worsen, green restaurants are an essential strategy for survival in the restaurant industry. Even though previous researchers have investigated the intention to visit a green restaurant with norm activation theory, they did not consider the characteristics of prosocial behavior and the green restaurant and the impact of other external factors, such as types of information cues and social class, was overlooked. Considering these points, the primary objectives of this study were to extend existing theory with perceived burdensomeness and social connectedness and to identify the difference in the impact of types of information cues and a moderating role of social cues. Using an experimental design with hypothetical scenarios, respondents were randomly assigned to one of two different scenarios (intrinsic cues vs. extrinsic cues). The results showed that the participants who received intrinsic cues responded lower than the participants who received extrinsic cues in the awareness of consequences, perceived burdensomeness, and social connectedness. Antecedents of personal norm in the extended norm activation theory had a positive impact on personal norm. In the case of the moderating role of social class, there were interaction effects between social class and information in every construct except perceived burdensomeness. Further discussion and implications are provided in the main body of this study.