Explicit and implicit hopelessness and self-injury

Objective This study examined the relationship between explicit and implicit measures of hopelessness and self-injurious behavior (defined here as self-harming or suicidal actions and thoughts). Method A community sample of 267 participants completed explicit measures of hopelessness (Beck’s Hopelessness Scale and a Feeling Thermometer), an implicit measure of hopelessness (Hopelessness Implicit Association Test), and a […]

Being certain that negative events will happen or that positive events will not happen: Depressive predictive certainty and change in suicide ideation over time

Introduction Relatively little research has examined the precise components of hopelessness that increase vulnerability to suicidal thinking. We examined whether certainty about an absence of positive future outcomes (Certainty-AP) would more strongly predict suicide ideation over time than certainty about negative future outcomes (Certainty-N). Method Young adults (N = 208), ages 18–34 (M = 19.08, SD = 2.22), with either recent suicide […]

Perfectionistic self-presentation, socially prescribed perfectionism, self-oriented perfectionism, interpersonal hopelessness, and suicidal ideation in U.S. adults: Reexamining the social disconnection model

Objective Research has linked perfectionism to increased suicidal ideation (SI), although less is known regarding the mechanisms that explain this relation. The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) posits that interpersonal aspects of perfectionism cause interpersonal problems (e.g., hostility, loneliness) which in turn increase a person’s risk for experiencing SI. The present study aimed to replicate […]

Hopelessness, interpersonal, and emotion dysregulation perspectives on suicidal ideation: Tests in a clinical sample

Objective The present study directly compared three perspectives of suicidality: Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS), Hopelessness Theory, and a perspective emphasizing emotion dysregulation. Method 219 adults seeking outpatient psychological services completed questionnaires during intake between November 2015 and February 2019. Patients were included if they completed surveys related to thwarted belongingness (TB), perceived burdensomeness (PB), […]

Examining nonsuicidal self-injury features as motivational moderators in the relationship between hopelessness and suicide ideation

Objective Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a robust predictor of suicide ideation and attempts, but it is not clear how and why this connection is so strong. Using the Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of suicide as a framework, select features of NSSI were examined as motivational moderators between hopelessness and suicide ideation. Method Data were collected from […]

Higher suicide intent in patients attempting suicide with violent methods versus self-poisoning: A prospective study from Norway

Background: Suicidal intent for patients attempting suicide using violent methods (VMs) is assumed to be higher than for those using self-poisoning (SP), which may explain the higher mortality observed in follow-up studies. However, this has not been studied prospectively. Aims: We aimed to compare patients attempting suicide using VMs with those using SP regarding suicidal intent, suicidal ideation, […]

Does hopelessness accurately predict how bad you will feel in the future? Initial evidence of affective forecasting errors in individuals with elevated suicide

Background Forecasts about the future can dictate actions and behaviors performed in the present moment. Given that periods of elevated acute suicide risk often consist of elevated negative affect and hopelessness, individuals during these periods may more bias-prone and make decisions (e.g., suicide attempts) based on inaccurate affective forecasts about their futures (e.g., overestimating future […]

Association among early life stress, mood features, hopelessness and suicidal risk in bipolar disorder: The potential contribution of insomnia symptoms

Aim The study aimed to investigate the potential pathways mediating early exposure to stressful events and the clinical manifestations of bipolar disorder (BD), such as severity of mood symptoms, hopelessness and suicidal ideation, focusing on the potential role of insomnia symptoms. Method A sample of 162 adult participants with BD I or II were assessed during depressed phase […]

Quality of life, hopelessness, impulsivity, and suicide in the rural elderly in China: A moderated mediation analysis of psychological autopsy data

Background People who had died by suicide always being associated with negative emotions and even mental disorders. Understanding mechanisms underlying the association between quality of life (QOL), hopelessness, and suicide are of great significance. In this study, we aimed to test a model in which the QOL-suicide relationship was mediated by hopelessness and moderated by […]

Suicide risk after suicide bereavement: The role of loss-related characteristics, mental health, and hopelessness

Background Suicide bereavement is associated with increased risk for severe negative mental health outcomes and suicidality. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between mental health symptoms and suicidal ideation among suicide bereaved while taking multiple factors into account. Methods The sample consisted of N = 157 German suicide bereaved who were interested in receiving an online intervention. The Beck […]

Meaning in life as a mediator of the associations among depression, hopelessness and suicidal ideation: A path analysis

Introduction Meaning in life can be good protective factor against depression, hopelessness and suicidal ideation. Aim To analyse the mediating effect of meaning in life on the associations among hopelessness, depression and suicidal ideation. Method A cross‐sectional study was conducted among 90 patients diagnosed with depression. A structural equation modelling approach was applied for this […]

Refinement of the role of hopelessness in the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide: An exploration in an inpatient adolescent sample

Hopelessness is a well-established risk factor for suicidal ideation. Recent research has indicated that hopelessness can be split into two subsets: pessimism (PESS) and lack of optimism (LOO) and that LOO is more salient of the two in predicting suicide ideation (SI). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of PESS and […]

Hopelessness, dissociative symptoms, and suicide risk in major depressive disorder: Clinical and biological correlates

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) has different clinical presentations and is associated with neurobiological alterations. Hopelessness, anhedonia, and dissociation represent some of the most pervasive psychopathological symptoms that often lead to suicidal thoughts, attempts, and actions. To further research on the concept of depression endophenotypes, this study aimed to assess the possible relationships between hopelessness and […]

Asylum-seeking children with resignation syndrome: Catatonia or traumatic withdrawal syndrome?

In the beginning of the 2000s, an increasing number of asylum-seeking children in Sweden fell into a stuporous condition. In the present study, we report 46 consecutive children with the most severe form of this illness where the children were unable to give any response at all, did not react to pain, cold or touching, […]

Neurobiological elements of hopelessness and impulsivity in suicidal behavior

Suicide is an important public health problem. Besides the well-known psychosocial factors that contribute to suicidal behavior, the neurobiological factors have gained much visibility in the last years. The neurobiological studies in suicide were linked with psychiatric disorders or they were considered in an independent way. The emphasis on the biological aspects of suicide has […]

Loneliness, hopelessness and suicide in later life: A case-controlled psychological autopsy study in rural China

Aims: Loneliness is increasingly recognised as a serious public health issue worldwide. However, there is scarce research addressing the association between loneliness and suicide in older adults in rural China. We set out to examine loneliness and other psychosocial factors in elderly suicide cases and explore their interaction effects. Methods: Using a 1 : 1 matched case-control […]

Depression and hopelessness as risk factors for suicide ideation, attempts and death: Meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

Background: Many studies have documented robust relationships between depression and hopelessness and subsequent suicidal thoughts and behaviours; however, much weaker and non-significant effects have also been reported. These inconsistencies raise questions about whether and to what degree these factors confer risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviours.AimsThis study aimed to evaluate the magnitude and clinical utility of […]

Hopelessness and its correlates with clinical outcomes in an outpatient setting

Introduction: This study examined whether patients with hopelessness and those without may significantly differ regarding their main presentations and clinical course in a large Italian population. Methods: The recruited sample included 583 currently euthymic outpatients with major affective disorders. The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) assessed hopelessness using a cutoff score of 9 or higher. Participants were categorized […]

Capability for suicide interacts with states of heightened arousal to predict death by suicide beyond the effects of depression and hopelessness

Background States of heightened arousal (e.g., agitation, sleep disturbance) have been repeatedly linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors, including attempts and death. Studies have further indicated that these states may be particularly pernicious among individuals who evidence high suicidal capability. The objective of this study was to examine the interactive effects of heightened arousal and […]

Simultaneous longitudinal examination of hopelessness, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness as predictors of suicide ideation

Objective Based on Beck’s hopelessness model (Beck, Kovacs, & Weissman, Journal of the American Medical Association, 234, 1975, 1146) and Joiner’s (Why people die by suicide, 2005, Harvard University Press, Boston, MA) interpersonal theory of suicide, this study simultaneously examined three cognitive risk factors (hopelessness, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness) as predictors of suicide ideation. Method […]

Empirical extension of the interpersonal theory of suicide: Investigating the role of interpersonal hopelessness

The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide posits that hopelessness about thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness is an important risk factor for the desire for suicide and suicide risk. Past research has indicated that general feelings of hopelessness interact with the constructs of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness to predict suicide ideation. However, no research has explicitly […]

Relations between hopelessness, depressive symptoms and suicidality: Mediation by reasons for living

Objective The present study examined whether reasons for living (RFL) would partially account for the associations between traditional risk factors (depressive symptoms, hopelessness) and suicidal ideation and attempts. Method Data were collected from 1,075 undergraduate college students who completed a battery of online assessments. Results Results from a series of simultaneous mediational models indicated that […]

Hopelessness and lack of connectedness to others as risk factors for suicidal behavior across the lifespan: Implications for cognitive-behavioral treatment

The rates of suicide attempts and death by suicide vary considerably over the lifespan, highlighting the influence of different contextual, risk, and protective factors at different points in development (Daniel & Goldston, 2009). Hopelessness and lack of connectedness to others are two factors that have been associated with increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors across the lifespan. The […]