The clinical utility of a brief measure of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness for the detection of suicidal military personnel

Abstract

Perceived burdensomeness (PB) and thwarted belongingness (TB) are important indicators of suicide risk; however, limited research has investigated applicability to military populations, and no efforts have been initiated to translate these constructs into easily implemented clinical tools. The current study examined the structure and validity of a brief self-report survey of PB and TB, the 10-item Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ-10), among a sample of 219 deployed military personnel. Factor analysis confirmed that PB and TB are distinct, and are correlated with psychiatric symptomatology. Receiver operating characteristic analyses indicated the most useful cutoff scores were PB=1 and TB=3.2. Both scales significantly improved the ability to rule-in and rule-out current suicide ideation among deployed service members.