Negative Urgency, (Lack of) Premeditation, and Sensation Seeking: Indirect Relationships with Suicidal Ideation through Thwarted Interpersonal Needs.

OBJECTIVE: Differences in how impulsivity is conceptualized, along with a myopic focus on impulsivity's relationship with historical suicidal behaviors, have resulted in limited implications made from prior research regarding impulsivity and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The current study investigated the indirect effect facets of impulsivity may have on suicidal ideation, specifically, through thwarted interpersonal needs. METHODS: Participants were N = 424 undergraduate students who completed a cross-sectional survey. Participants completed the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS), the Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ), and the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ). Parallel mediation models were run to examine the relation between facets of impulsivity, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and suicidal ideation. RESULTS: Thwarted belonginess and perceived burdensomeness significantly accounted for the variance in the relation between negative urgency and suicidal ideation. Neither thwarted belongingness nor perceived burdensomeness significantly explained variance in the relation between (lack of) premeditation and suicidal ideation. Conversely, perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belonginess significantly explained the inverse relation between sensation seeking and suicidal ideation (i.e., greater sensation seeking was related to lower perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness and in turn lower suicidal ideation). CONCLUSION: Negative urgency, in particular, is related to suicidal ideation through thwarted interpersonal needs. Future research should continue to differentiate between various types of impulsivity and its relationship with both suicidal ideation and behaviors utilizing both cross-sectional and ambulatory assessments of these constructs.HIGHLIGHTSNegative urgency is related to suicidal ideation.Negative urgency is related to thwarted interpersonal needs.Thwarted interpersonal needs partially explain the relation between negative urgency and suicidal ideation.

Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training Program.

Background: Suicide prevention gatekeeper training programs offer a unique opportunity to increase knowledge about suicide prevention, enhance risk identification, and reduce suicide-related stigma. Aims: This study evaluated the efficacy of an online suicide prevention gatekeeper training program in a randomized trial. Method: Participants were US college students (N = 388). Participants (69.3% women) had a mean age of 19.01 years and identified primarily as Hispanic/Latinx (52.1%) and non-Hispanic White (22.4%). Participants completed pre- and posttest surveys and were randomly assigned to either the ASK About Suicide to Save a Life (AS + K?) suicide prevention gatekeeper training program or an information-only comparison intervention. Results: Participants in the AS + K? condition reported significantly greater gatekeeper preparedness and self-efficacy, and lower stigmatized attitudes at posttraining, as compared with those in the comparison condition. There were no significant differences in likelihood of using gatekeeper skills or suicide-related knowledge across groups. Limitations: This short-term study was not able to assess behavioral change resulting in use of gatekeeper skills over time. Conclusions: Completion of gatekeeper training resulted in increases in preparedness and self-efficacy for engaging in gatekeeper behaviors, as well as a reduction in suicide-related stigma. Despite small intervention effects, the online AS + K? training appears to be a promising program.