Impulsivity and hopelessness as predictors of suicide-related ideation among older adults

Research has demonstrated that impulsivity is strongly associated with suicide-related ideation and behaviour among young adults. However, to date, the potential importance of impulsivity as a predictor of suicide-related ideation in later life has yet to be determined. Our study examined impulsivity, hopelessness, depressive symptomatology, and sociodemographic factors vis-à-vis suicide-related ideation among older adults at risk of self-harm.

A sample (n = 117) of older adults was recruited from multiple sources for this study over a 1-year period. Suicide-related ideation was measured with the Geriatric Suicide Ideation Scale, a multidimensional measure of suicide-related ideation developed for use with older adults.

Canonical correlation identified 2 pairings of linear composites in which impulsivity emerged along both as significantly associated with facets of suicide-related ideation. Of note, the greater proportion of variance in impulsivity was subsumed along the second set of vectors with somatic depressive symptoms.

Our findings suggest that the impulse to self-harm may be even more pronounced among older adults less likely to present as typically depressed. It is further suggested that impulsivity is more broadly associated with suicide-related ideation than hopelessness, and that screening for impulsivity as well as hopelessness may increase clinicians' ability to identify older adults at greatest risk of self-harm.