No description available.

Sleep problems are robust suicide risk correlates. According to the interpersonal theory of suicide, thwarted belongingness (TB) and perceived burdensomeness (PB) may explain the link between sleep problems and suicide risk. This study examined these relationships among 331 community-dwelling adults identifying as sexual and/or gender minorities. Self-report measures of sleep problems, TB, PB, suicide risk, and anxiety were completed. Bootstrap mediation analyses were conducted to test TB and PB as interacting, individual, and parallel explanatory factors linking sleep problems and suicide risk. Sleep problems were associated with greater TB, PB, and suicide risk. TB and PB, in parallel and individually, accounted for the relationship between sleep problems and suicide risk, beyond age and anxiety. In contrast to the interpersonal theory, the indirect effect of PB was stronger at lower levels of TB and the indirect effect of TB was stronger at lower levels of PB. Exploratory analyses indicated significant differences between sexual minorities, gender minorities, and individuals identifying as both sexual and gender minorities: the indirect effect of sleep problems on suicide risk through PB was descriptively strongest among sexual minorities, and the indirect effect through TB was descriptively stronger among gender minorities and individuals identifying with both minority groups. Findings suggest that intervening upon TB and PB may thwart the trajectory from sleep problems to suicide risk among sexual and gender minorities. Further work is needed to determine whether suicide risk pathways differ across minority groups.

No description available.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and substance use have been associated with increased suicide ideation, but have rarely been examined within a larger theoretical context of suicide risk. The interpersonal theory of suicide posits that feeling disconnected from others (i.e., thwarted belongingness) and feeling like a burden on others (i.e., perceived burdensomeness) are associated with increased suicide ideation. We hypothesized that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness would mediate the relation between PTSD symptoms and suicide ideation, and that using substances to cope would moderate these relations. Participants were 254 college students reporting exposure to potentially traumatic experiences. Findings from a moderated mediation analysis indicated that perceived burdensomeness, but not thwarted belongingness, mediated the relation between PTSD symptoms and suicide ideation, and using substances to cope moderated this relation. Therapeutic interventions aimed at reducing suicide ideation might benefit from decreasing perceived burdensomeness and the use of substances to cope.

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No description available.

Researchers have investigated the role of hope as a protective factor against suicide. Of the 3 factors posited by Joiner's interpersonal theory of suicide (IPTS) to be necessary before suicide can occur, increased hope has been shown to reduce 2 (thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness), but, counterintuitively, to increase the 3rd (acquired capability for suicide). A fuller understanding of this phenomenon may lie with Bernardo's locus-of-hope construct-pursuant to which hope may lie not only in one's own plans and capabilities (internal locus-of-hope) but in those of others (external locus-of-hope) but to date no study has researched the relationship between external locus-of-hope and acquired capability for suicide. The purpose of this quantitative study was to contribute to the understanding of hope and suicidality by examining the following research question: Is there a relationship between external locus-of-hope and acquired capability for suicide? The study used existing objective instruments to measure levels of hope and acquired capability for suicide. Data from a sample recruited online (N = 193) was analyzed using a 3-step hierarchical regression procedure designed to isolate the effects of external locus-of-hope on acquired capability for suicide. Results confirmed that internal locus-of-hope raises acquired capability for suicide and demonstrated that external locus-of-hope has the opposite effect: it is associated with lowered acquired capability for suicide. It follows that interventions designed to raise one's level of externally located hope have the potential to deter suicidal individuals from actualizing their plans. This study thus has implications for positive social change by contributing to the saving of lives.