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Future disposition and suicidal ideation: mediation by depressive symptom clusters
Elizabeth D Ballard1, Amee B Patel2, Martha Ward3
1Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
Journal of Affective Disorders
|September 14, 2014
Summary
Future outlook impacts suicidal ideation. Subjective depression links positive future expectations to suicidal thoughts, while self-blame mediates negative expectations, suggesting targeted interventions for depression and suicide prevention.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Mental Health Research
Background:
- Hopelessness theory links future expectancies to suicidal ideation.
- Negative and positive future expectancies are associated with suicidal thoughts.
- Depression symptom clusters may mediate the link between future outlook and suicide.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate subjective depression and self-blame as mediators.
- To examine the relationship between future disposition and suicidal ideation.
- To differentiate pathways to suicidal ideation based on future outlook.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 140 undergraduates with moderate to severe depression.
- Utilized Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, Beck Depression Inventory, and Future Disposition Inventory.
- Mediation analysis was employed to assess relationships.
Main Results:
- Subjective depression mediated the link between positive future disposition and suicidal ideation.
- Self-blame mediated the association between negative future disposition and suicidal ideation.
- Reverse pathways were not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Identified distinct pathways to suicidal ideation based on future outlook.
- Suggests interventions targeting subjective depression for those with positive future expectancies.
- Recommends focusing on self-blame for individuals with negative future expectancies.