Testing the Escape Theory of Suicide in an Outpatient Clinical Population

To test Baumeister’s Escape Theory of Suicide, 132 clinical outpatients at two different sites were studied. A structural equation model yielded significant paths from socially prescribed perfectionism to depression, depression to hopelessness, hopelessness to both reasons for living & suicide ideation, & reasons for living to suicide ideation. A path analysis showed that the proposed model had a strong overall Goodness of Fit index. Results strongly support the escape theory of suicide in outpatients who might be particularly vulnerable to suicidal thoughts. (41 refs.)