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Toward an Integrative Model of Suicide Attempt: A Cognitive Psychological Approach
Author(s) -
Dieserud Gudrun,
Røysamb Espen,
Ekeberg Øivind,
Kraft Pål
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1521/suli.31.2.153.21511
Subject(s) - loneliness , psychology , suicidal ideation , suicide attempt , suicide prevention , clinical psychology , path analysis (statistics) , poison control , depression (economics) , structural equation modeling , cognition , interpersonal communication , vulnerability (computing) , psychiatry , medicine , social psychology , medical emergency , statistics , mathematics , economics , macroeconomics , computer security , computer science
Applying a cognitive approach, the purpose of the present study was to expand previous research on stress‐vulnerability models of depression and problem‐solving deficits, as it relates to suicide attempt. Structural equation modelling, involving latent variables, was used to evaluate (a) whether low self‐esteem, a low sense of self‐efficacy, loneliness, and divorce constituted vulnerability factors for the development of depression; (b) whether hopelessness and suicidal ideation mediated the relationship between depression and suicide attempt; and (c) whether problem‐solving deficits mediated the relationship between the vulnerability factors and suicide attempt, separate from depression/hopelessness. A total of 123 individuals, aged 18–75 years, participated in the study (72 suicide attempters and 51 psychiatric outpatients with no history of suicidal behavior). The results indicated a two path model of suicide attempt. The first path began with low self‐esteem, loneliness, and separation or divorce, which advanced to depression, and was further mediated by hopelessness and suicidal ideation which led to suicide attempt. The second path developed from low self‐esteem and a low sense of self‐efficacy and advanced to suicide attempt, mediated by a negative appraisal of one's own problem‐solving capacity, and poor interpersonal problem‐solving skills. The importance of addressing both depression/hopelessness, and problem‐solving deficits when working with suicide attempters is noted.