Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Coping competence and hopelessness moderate the influence of perceived burdensomeness on suicidal ideation in undergraduate college students
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-28-2022
Abstract
According to the interpersonal theory of suicide, the perception of imposing a burden on loved ones increases the risk for suicidal ideation. Little research, however, has examined the interaction of burdensomeness with cognitive variables in predicting suicidal ideation in college students even though the relationship between burdensomeness and ideation may be contingent on levels of cognitive risk factors. The present study thus examined the relationships between burdensomeness, hopelessness, coping competence, and suicidal ideation. Questionnaires were administered to 279 undergraduate students from a university in the Midwest United States. After controlling for depression, hopelessness, and coping competence, burdensomeness significantly predicted ideation and accounted for variance above and beyond the control variables. Moreover, the relationship between burdensomeness and suicidal ideation was significantly moderated by coping competence and hopelessness. The findings suggest that perceived burdensomeness plays a critical role in the risk for suicide in college students. More specifically, the findings suggest that coping competence and hopelessness can be ideal targets for interventions as changes in these variables may attenuate the association between perceived burdensomeness and suicidal ideation.
Recommended Citation
Hovey, J. D., Roley-Roberts, M. E., Hurtado, G., Seligman, L. D., Levine, J. C., Kene, P., & Gonzalez, R. N. (2022). Coping competence and hopelessness moderate the influence of perceived burdensomeness on suicidal ideation in undergraduate college students. Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 1–8. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04190-9
Publication Title
Current Psychology
DOI
10.1007/s12144-022-04190-9
Comments
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.