Citation

Lynch TR, Cheavens JS, Morse JQ, Rosenthal MZ. Aging Ment. Health 2004; 8(6): 486-497.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27704, USA. lynch011@mc.duke.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15724830

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to begin a preliminary examination of constructs theorized to be related to suicidal behavior by testing a model of the influence of both temperament and emotion regulation on suicidal ideation and hopelessness in a sample of depressed older adults. The model was evaluated using structural equation modeling procedures in a sample of depressed, older adults. Findings supported a temporally predictive model in which negative affect intensity and reactivity lead to emotion inhibition, operationalized as ambivalence over emotional expression and thought suppression, which in turn lead to increased presence of suicidal predictors, operationalized as hopelessness and suicidal ideation. These results suggest that suicide prevention efforts in older adults may be improved by targeting emotion inhibition in treatment, especially among affectively intense and reactive older adults.