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

Abstract

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. HIGHLIGHTS Negative 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.