Main Predictions of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior: Empirical Tests in Two Samples of Young Adults

By T. Joiner, K. V. Van Orden, Tracy K. Witte, E. Selby, Jessica D. Ribeiro, Robyn Lewis, M. Rudd. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2009

812 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior (Joiner, 2005) makes two overarching predictions: 1) that perceptions of burdening others and of social alienation combine to instill the desire for death; and 2) that individuals will not act on the desire for death unless they have developed the capability to do so – a capability that develops through exposure and thus habituation to painful and/or fearsome experiences, and which is posited by the theory to be necessary to overcome powerful self-preservation pressures. Two studies test these predictions. In Study 1, the interaction of (low) family social support (cf. social alienation or low belonging) and feeling like one does not matter (cf. perceived burdensomeness) predicted current suicidal ideation, beyond depression indices. In Study 2, the three-way interaction between a measure of low belonging, a measure of perceived burdensomeness, and lifetime number of suicide attempts (viewed as a strong predictor of the level of acquired capability for suicide) predicted current suicide attempt (vs. ideation) among a clinical sample of suicidal young adults, again beyond depression indices and other key covariates. Implications for the understanding, treatment, and prevention of suicidal behavior are discussed.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1ec9c19989302ef0c70fcbffa5f18368b48ca20a

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Citations in the corpus

Perceived burdensomeness, fearlessness of death, and suicidality among deployed military personnel (2012, positive): “Consistent with theory and previous reports (Bryan, 2010; Bryan, Morrow, et al., 2010; Joiner et al., 2009; Van Orden et al., 2006, 2008), as acquired capability increased, the effect of perceived burdensomeness on suicidality became much more pronounced.”
The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (2010, background): “To remedy this, members of our research group studied a sample of young adults experiencing a suicidal crisis (Joiner et al., 2009, Study 2).”
Nonsuicidal Self-Injury, Suicidal Behavior, and Their Co-occurrence as Viewed Through the Lens of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (2012, background): “This effect holds even after controlling for strong covariates, including severity of depressive symptoms (Joiner et al., 2009; Van Orden, Witte, Gordon, Bender, & Joiner, 2008).”
Gratitude and grit indirectly reduce risk of suicidal ideations by enhancing meaning in life: Evidence for a mediated moderation model (2013, background): “Thwarted belongingness has been found to predict suicide ideations in multiple studies of college students (Joiner et al., 2009; Van Orden, Witte, Gordon, Bender, & Joiner, 2008) and diverse samples such as drug addicts (Conner, Britton, Sworts, & Joiner, 2007) and the military (Anestis, Bryan, Corn”
Mattering and Psychological Well-being in College and University Students: Review and Recommendations for Campus-Based Initiatives (2019, background): “Joiner et al. (2009) analyzed the tendencies of 815 adults who were taking part in a longitudinal study that began when they were in elementary schools.”