Understanding grief reactions, thwarted belongingness, and suicide ideation in bereaved adolescents: Toward a unifying theory.

Abstract

Childhood bereavement is linked to suicide-related behaviors in adolescence and adulthood, but candidate mechanisms through which bereavement may lead to suicide-related behaviors have not been explored. One candidate pathway is that grief reaction arising from bereavement lead to increased perceived burdensomeness and/or thwarted belongingness, resulting in increased suicide ideation. This cross-sectional study of bereaved adolescents explored indirect effects between grief reactions as distal predictors, perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness as proximal predictors, and suicide ideation. Participants were 58 bereaved youth, 12-17 years of age (mean = 14.21, SD = 1.65; 81.0% female; 51.7% Hispanic, 17.2% African American, and 22.4% Caucasian), and their parents/guardians seeking services at a trauma and grief specialty outpatient clinic. The indirect effect of grief reactions on suicide ideation via thwarted belongingness, but not perceived burdensomeness, was statistically significant. Clinicians may wish to consider signs of thwarted belongingness as possible indicators of suicide risk among bereaved youth.