Citation

Hill RM, Kaplow JB, Oosterhoff B, Layne CM. J. Clin. Psychol. (Hoboken) 2019; 75(4): 780-793.

Affiliation

UCLA/Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jclp.22731

PMID

30636043

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: 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.

METHOD: 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.

RESULTS: The indirect effect of grief reactions on suicide ideation via thwarted belongingness, but not perceived burdensomeness, was statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians may wish to consider signs of thwarted belongingness as possible indicators of suicide risk among bereaved youth.

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

bereavement; grief; perceived burdensomeness; suicide ideation; thwarted belongingness