The pursuit of death versus escape from negative affect: An examination of the nature of the relationship between emotion dysregulation and both suicidal behavior and non-suicidal self-injury

Lack of Emotional Awareness is Associated with Thwarted Belongingness and Acquired Capability for Suicide in a Military Psychiatric Inpatient Sample

“…While we were unable to test for this mediation, study results support the meta‐analytic findings of Anestis, Kleiman, et al. (), Anestis, Soberay, et al. () that identify trait impulsivity as having a small and likely indirect role in suicidality.…”

“…Of note, one study (Colborn et al., ) using a primarily military sample identified that motor impulsivity distinguished between those with a history of single versus multiple suicide attempts. Additionally, some studies have established links between number of suicide attempts and impulsivity, although others have failed to replicate these findings (Anestis, Kleiman, et al., ; Anestis, Soberay, et al., ; Carli et al., ; Corruble, Benyamina, Bayle, Falissard, & Hardy, ; Maloney, Degenhardt, Darke, & Nelson, ; Mathias et al., ; Oquendo et al., ; Swann et al., ).…”

Emotion Dysregulation and Military Suicidality Since 2001: A Review of the Literature

“…Indeed, Law, Khazem, and Anestis () highlight when emotion dysregulation can actually facilitate the transition from suicidal ideation to behavior. When individuals have high distress tolerance and “utilize coping methods that are sufficiently painful and/or provocative” (Law et al, , p. 31), such as fasting (Zuromski & Witte, ) and NSSI (Anestis et al, ; Anestis, Pennings, Lavender, Tull, & Gratz, ), their risk of progressing from ideation to suicidal behavior is pronounced. Indeed, frequent NSSI is empirically one of the strongest predictors of attempts (Burke et al, ; Hamza, Willoughby, & Good, ).…”

“…Research suggests emotion dysregulation is predictive of suicidal ideation (Arria et al, 2009;O'Connor & Nock, 2014). Some studies investigate disorders associated with emotion dysregulation and their relationship to suicidal ideation and/or attempts, including depression (Mościcki, 2001); substance use disorder (Fischer, Anderson, & Smith, 2004;Mościcki, 2001;Sher & Stanley, 2008); borderline personality disorder (Brown, Comtois, & Linehan, 2002;Selby & Joiner, 2009); anxiety disorders, and PTSD (Elbogen et al, 2017;Gradus et al, 2010); and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI; Anestis, Kleiman, Lavender, Tull, & Gratz, 2014;McKenzie & Gross, 2014). However, studies directly examining emotion dysregulation and suicide attempts are less conclusive: While several find the most common reasons given for attempts include escaping or obtaining relief from emotional distress (Brown et al, 2002;Bryan, Hernandez, et al, 2013;Bryan & Rudd, 2012;Bryan, Rudd, & Wertenberger, 2013), others find no correlation between emotion dysregulation and suicidal behavior (Garnefski, Kraaij, & Spinhoven, 2001;Tamás et al, 2007).…”

The role of emotion dysregulation in suicide as considered through the ideation to action framework

“…As such, there appears to be a robust relationship between emotion dysregulation and suicide attempts, however the nature of this relationship is more complex. More recently, Anestis et al [40 ] have proposed a model in which the relationship between emotion dysregulation and suicide attempts is largely explained by increases in the acquired capability for suicide developed through the use of certain behaviors aimed to regulate emotions (e.g., NSSI [40,41 ]). …”