A Model Predicting Suicidal Ideation and Hopelessness in Depressed Older Adults: the Impact of Emotion Inhibition and Affect Intensity

This study began a preliminary examination of constructs theorized to be related to suicidal behaviour by testing a model of the influence of both temperament & emotion regulation on suicide ideation & hopelessness in a sample of depressed, older adults. The model was evaluted using structural equation modeling procedures. Findings supported a temporally predictive model in which negative affect intensity & reactivity lead to emotion inhibition, operationalized as ambivalence over emotional expression & thought suppression, which in turn lead to increased presence of suicidal predictors, operationalized as hopelessness & suicide ideation. (121 refs.)