Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Thwarted Belongingness Mediates the Relationship Between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Suicidal Ideation

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cognitive Therapy and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fear of negative evaluation has been documented as a mechanism that explains variations in feelings of belongingness. According to the interpersonal theory of suicide (Joiner 2005), feelings of thwarted belongingness, that one does not belong, can significantly increase desire and risk for suicide. We proposed that differences in thwarted belongingness may explain variations in suicidal ideation and behavior as a function of levels of fear of negative evaluation. This hypothesis was tested by examining self-reported fears of negative evaluation, thwarted belongingness, and suicidal ideation in 107 young adults, many who were explicitly targeted for recruitment due to a history of suicidal ideation and behavior [13.1 % had thoughts about suicide without a previous attempt; 15.9 % reported at least one previous attempt (max = 5 attempts)]. Mediation analyses were conducted with suicidal ideation entered as the outcome variable. Results indicated that greater fears of negative evaluation were significantly and positively associated with levels of suicidal ideation. Differences in thwarted belongingness fully accounted for the relationship between fears of negative evaluation and suicidal ideation. We conclude with clinical implications and future directions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In order to internally replicate the DSI-SS findings, the bootstrapping resampling procedure was used to test the significance of the indirect effects of fear of negative evaluation on self-reported suicide attempt history (0 = controls, 1 = current ideators with no history of suicide attempts, 2 = current ideators with a history of at least one suicide attempt) via the mediator, thwarted belongingness. The indirect effect of fears of negative evaluation on self-reported suicide attempt history through thwarted belongingness was significant (.0085); the 95 % CI ranged from .0024 to .0186. As predicted, the direct effect of fear of negative evaluation on self-reported suicide attempt history was no longer significant after accounting for the effects of thwarted belongingness (p = .59), indicating that thwarted belongingness fully mediated the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and self-reported suicide attempt history.

References

  • American College Health Association. (2014). National College Health Assessment II: Reference group executive summary, fall 2013. Baltimore, MD: American College Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beautrais, A. L. (2001). Suicides and serious suicide attempts: Two populations or one? Psychological Medicine, 31(05), 837–845.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M. H., McClintock, M. K., Malarkey, W. B., Hawkley, L. C., & Berntson, G. G. (2000). Lonely traits and concomitant physiological processes: The MacArthur social neuroscience studies. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 35(2), 143–154.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Suicide: Facts at a glance. Retrived September 25, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/suicide_datasheet.html.

  • Cheng, A. T., Chen, T. H., Chen, C. C., & Jenkins, R. (2000). Psychosocial and psychiatric risk factors for suicide Case-control psychological autopsy study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 177(4), 360–365.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chu, C., Buchman-Schmitt, J. M., & Joiner, T. E. (2015). Autobiographical memory perspectives in task and suicide attempt recall: A study of young adults with and without symptoms of suicidality. Cognitive Therapy and Research.

  • Conner, K. R., Duberstein, P. R., & Conwell, Y. (1999). Age-related patterns of factors associated with completed suicide in men with alcohol dependence. The American Journal on Addictions, 8, 312–318.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, C. L., Wingate, L. R., Grant, D. M., Judah, M. R., & Mills, A. C. (2011). Interpersonal suicide risk and ideation: The influence of depression and social anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30(8), 842–855.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175–191.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. (2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67, 451–470.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Joiner, T. E. (2005). Why people die by suicide. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joiner, T. E., Hollar, D., & Orden, K. V. (2006). On Buckeyes, Gators, Super Bowl Sunday, and the Miracle on Ice: “Pulling together” is associated with lower suicide rates. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25(2), 179–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joiner, T. E., Pfaff, J. J., & Acres, J. G. (2002). A brief screening tool for suicidal symptoms in adolescents and young adults in general health settings: reliability and validity data from the Australian National General Practice Youth Suicide Prevention Project. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(4), 471–481.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kimbrel, N. A. (2008). A model of the development and maintenance of generalized social phobia. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(4), 592–612.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koivumaa-Honkanen, H., Honkanen, R., Viinamäki, H., Heikkilä, K., Kaprio, J., & Koskenvuo, M. (2001). Life satisfaction and suicide: A 20-year follow-up study. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 433–439.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leary, M. R. (1983). A brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9(3), 371–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maner, J. K., DeWall, C. N., Baumeister, R. F., & Schaller, M. (2007). Does social exclusion motivate interpersonal reconnection? Resolving the” porcupine problem.”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 42–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Metalsky, G. I., & Joiner, T. E., Jr. (1997). The hopelessness depression symptom questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21(3), 359–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, E. C., Grant, J. D., Bucholz, K. K., Glowinski, A., Madden, P. A. F., Reich, W., & Heath, A. C. (2000). Social phobia in a population-based female adolescent twin sample: co-morbidity and associated suicide-related symptoms. Psychological Medicine, 30(04), 797–804.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, P., & Nordentoft, M. (2005). Suicide risk in relation to psychiatric hospitalization: evidence based on longitudinal registers. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(4), 427–432.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(8), 741–756.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robins, E. (1981). The final months: A study of the lives of 134 persons who committed suicide. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sareen, J., Cox, B. J., Afifi, T. O., de Graaf, R., Asmundson, G. J., ten Have, M., & Stein, M. B. (2005). Anxiety disorders and risk for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts: A population-based longitudinal study of adults. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(11), 1249–1257.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7(4), 422–445.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stack, S. (2000). Suicide: A 15-year review of the sociological literature part II: Modernization and social integration perspectives. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 30, 163–176.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stellrecht, N. E., Gordon, K. H., Van Orden, K., Witte, T. K., Wingate, L. R., Cukrowicz, K. C., & Fitzpatrick, K. K. (2006). Clinical applications of the interpersonal-psychological theory of attempted and completed suicide. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(2), 211–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stopa, L., & Clark, D. M. (2000). Social phobia and interpretation of social events. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38(3), 273–283.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thibodeau, M. A., Welch, P. G., Sareen, J., & Asmundson, G. J. (2013). Anxiety disorders are independently associated with suicide ideation and attempts: propensity score matching in two epidemiological samples. Depression and Anxiety, 30(10), 947–954.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trout, D. L. (1980). The role of social isolation in suicide. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 10, 10–23.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Orden, K. A., Cukrowicz, K. C., Witte, T. K., & Joiner, T. E, Jr. (2012). Thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness: Construct validity and psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 24(1), 197–215.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., Cukrowicz, K. C., Braithwaite, S. R., Selby, E. A., & Joiner, T. E, Jr. (2010). The interpersonal theory of suicide. Psychological Review, 117(2), 575–600.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., James, L. M., Castro, Y., Gordon, K. H., Braithwaite, S. R., & Joiner, T. E. (2008). Suicidal ideation in college students varies across semesters: The mediating role of belongingness. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38(4), 427–435.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waern, M., Rubenowitz, E., & Wilhelmson, K. (2003). Predictors of suicide in the old elderly. Gerontology, 49, 328–334.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, J. W., Heimberg, R. G., Fresco, D. M., Hart, T. A., Turk, C. L., Schneier, F. R., & Liebowitz, M. R. (2005). Empirical validation and psychometric evaluation of the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale in patients with social anxiety disorder. Psychological Assessment, 17(2), 179–190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Carol Chu, Jennifer M. Buchman-Schmitt, Fallon B. Moberg & Thomas E. Joiner

Authors
  1. Carol Chu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer M. Buchman-Schmitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fallon B. Moberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Thomas E. Joiner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol Chu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Of note, these data have not been previously presented elsewhere.

Informed Consent

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the university’s institutional research board and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Animal Rights

No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chu, C., Buchman-Schmitt, J.M., Moberg, F.B. et al. Thwarted Belongingness Mediates the Relationship Between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Suicidal Ideation. Cogn Ther Res 40, 31–37 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9715-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9715-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation