The Role of Perceived Burdensomeness in the Link Between Functional Impairment and Suicidal Ideation in...

Youth experiencing high levels of functional impairment may be at risk for suicidal ideation, but variables contributing to this risk remain unclear. The present study investigates the role of perceived burdensomeness toward others as an explanatory variable in the association between functional impairment and suicidal ideation in a sample of clinically referred youth, and whether this relationship differs by age.

N = 383 clinically-referred youth aged 6 to 17 (M_age = 10.17, SD_age = 2.96; 81.8% Hispanic) completed measures of impairment, perceived burdensomeness, suicidal ideation, and depressive symptoms.

Functional impairment was significantly associated with perceived burdensomeness (B = 0.39, p < 0.001), and perceived burdensomeness was significantly associated with suicidal ideation (B = 0.02, p < 0.001). The indirect effect of impairment on suicidal ideation through perceived burdensomeness was statistically significant (B = 0.005, SE = 0.002). The conditional indirect effect was significant and strengthened as a function of age.

These findings provide novel evidence that perceived burdensomeness may explain the link between impairment and suicidal ideation in youth, and that this explanatory link strengthens with increasing age. Clinically, results underscore the need for developmentally tailored interventions that target perceptions of burdensomeness to mitigate suicidal thoughts in at-risk youth.