Abstract
Despite the heavy focus upon risk factors for suicide, the presence or absence of protective factors are also instrumental in individuals’ vulnerability for developing suicidal ideation and behaviours. Future oriented constructs, including future thinking, future orientation, hope and optimism have been associated with suicidal ideation and behaviour; individuals who are less able to generate positive thoughts about the future, and those are less hopeful and optimistic are more likely to think about or engage in suicidal behaviours. The content and expectations of future thoughts as achievable also play a key role in their protective capacity. Within this chapter we discuss the relationships between future orientated constructs and suicidal ideation and behaviour, as well as potential mediators of these relationships, within the context of the new generation of ideation-to-action frameworks of suicidal behaviour. We also highlight challenges and opportunities for future research and intervention development for suicidal thoughts and behaviours using future oriented constructs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alarcon, G. M., Bowling, N. A., & Khazon, S. (2013). Great expectations: A meta-analytic examination of optimism and hope. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(7), 821–827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.12.004
Anestis, M. D., Moberg, F. B., & Arnau, R. C. (2014). Hope and the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior: Replication and extension of prior findings. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 44(2), 175–187. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12060
Baca-Garcia, E., Parra, C. P., Perez-Rodriguez, M. M., Sastre, C. D., Torres, R. R., Saiz-Ruiz, J., & de Leon, J. (2007). Psychosocial stressors may be strongly associated with suicide attempts. Stress and Health, 23(3), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1137
Baumeister, R. F. (1990). Suicide as escape from self. Psychological Review, 97, 90–113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.97.1.90
Beck, A. T., Weissman, A., Lester, D., & Trexler, L. (1974). The measurement of pessimism: The hopelessness scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 861–865. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0037562
Blankstein, K. R., Lumley, C. H., & Crawford, A. (2007). Perfectionism, hopelessness, and suicide ideation: Revisions to diathesis-stress and specific vulnerability models. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 25(4), 279–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-007-0053-6
Bruininks, P., & Malle, B. F. (2005). Distinguishing hope from optimism and related affective states. Motivation and Emotion, 29(4), 324–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9010-4
Bryan, C. J., Ray-Sannerud, B. N., Morrow, C. E., & Etienne, N. (2013). Optimism reduces suicidal ideation and weakens the effect of hopelessness among military personnel. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37(5), 996–1003. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9536-1
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2014). Dispositional optimism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(6), 293–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2014.02.003
Celano, C. M., Beale, E. E., Mastromauro, C. A., Stewart, J. G., Millstein, R. A., Auerbach, R. P., … Huffman, J. C. (2017). Psychological interventions to reduce suicidality in high-risk patients with major depression: A randomized controlled trial. Psychological Medicine, 47(5), 810–821. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716002798
Chang, E. C., Martos, T., Sallay, V., Chang, O. D., Wright, K. M., Najarian, A. S.-M., & Lee, J. (2017). Examining optimism and hope as protective factors of suicide risk in Hungarian college students: Is risk highest among those lacking positive psychological protection? Cognitive Therapy and Research, 41(2), 278–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-016-9810-0
Chang, E. C., Yu, T., Jilani, Z., Fowler, E. E., Yu, E. A., Lin, J., & Hirsch, J. K. (2015). Hope under assault: Understanding the impact of sexual assault on the relation between hope and suicidal risk in college students. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 34(3), 221–238. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2015.34.3.221
Chang, E. C., Yu, E. A., Kahle, E. R., Jeglic, E. L., & Hirsch, J. K. (2013). Is doubling up on positive future cognitions associated with lower suicidal risk in Latinos?: A look at hope and positive problem orientation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37(6), 1285–1293. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9572-x
Cheavens, J. S., Cukrowicz, K. C., Hansen, R., & Mitchell, S. M. (2016). Incorporating resilience factors into the interpersonal theory of suicide: The role of hope and self-forgiveness in an older adult sample: Hope and forgiveness as resilience factors in suicide. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72(1), 58–69. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22230
Christenson, H., Batterham, P. J., Soubelet, A., Mackinnon, A. J. (2013). A test of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide in a large community-based cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders, 144, 225–234.
Davidson, C. L., & Wingate, L. R. (2013). The glass half-full or a hopeful outlook: Which explains more variance in interpersonal suicide risk in a psychotherapy clinic sample? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(3), 263–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.787446
Davidson, C. L., Wingate, L. R., Rasmussen, K. A., & Slish, M. L. (2009). Hope as a predictor of interpersonal suicide risk. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 39(5), 499–507. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2009.39.5.499
Dhingra, K., Boduszek, D., & O’Connor, R. C. (2015). Differentiating suicide attempters from suicide ideators using the integrated motivational–volitional model of suicidal behaviour. Journal of Affective Disorders, 186, 211–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.07.007
Dhingra, K., Boduszek, D., & O’Connor, R. C. (2016). A structural test of the integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behaviour. Psychiatry Research, 239, 169–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.03.023
Eccleston, C., & Crombez, G. (2007). Worry and chronic pain: A misdirected problem solving model. Pain, 132(3), 233–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2007.09.014
Felitti, V., Anda, R., & Nordenberg, D. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8
Gutierrez, P. M. (2006). Integratively assessing risk and protective factors for adolescent suicide. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 36(2), 129–135. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2006.36.2.129
Haas, A. P., Eliason, M., Mays, V. M., Mathy, R. M., Cochran, S. D., D’Augelli, A. R., & Clayton, P. (2010). Suicide and suicide risk in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations: Review and recommendations. Journal of Homosexuality, 58(1), 10–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2011.534038
Hawton, K., & van Heeringen, K. (2009). Suicide. Lancet, 373(9672), 1372–1381. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60372-X
Hirsch, J. K., Cohn, T. J., Rowe, C. A., & Rimmer, S. E. (2017). Minority sexual orientation, gender identity status and suicidal behavior: Serial indirect effects of hope, hopelessness and depressive symptoms. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 15(2), 260–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-016-9723-x
Hirsch, J. K., Duberstein, P. R., Conner, K. R., Heisel, M. J., Beckman, A., Franus, N., & Conwell, Y. (2006). Future orientation and suicide ideation and attempts in depressed adults ages 50 and over. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14(9), 752–757. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.JGP.0000209219.06017.62
Hirsch, J. K., Wolford, K., LaLonde, S. M., Brunk, L., & Morris, A. P. (2007). Dispositional optimism as a moderator of the relationship between negative life events and suicide ideation and attempts. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 31(4), 533–546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-007-9151-0
Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00062
Hollingsworth, D. W., Wingate, L. R., Tucker, R. P., O’Keefe, V. M., & Cole, A. B. (2016). Hope as a moderator of the relationship between interpersonal predictors of suicide and suicidal thinking in African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 42(2), 175–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798414563748
Jobes, D. A., & Mann, R. E. (1999). Reasons for living versus reasons for dying: Examining the internal debate of suicide. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 29(2), 97–104. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1999.tb01048.x
Joiner, T. (2005). Why people die by suicide. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Kaslow, N. J., Thompson, M. P., Okun, A., Price, A., Young, S., Bender, M., … Parker, R. (2002). Risk and protective factors for suicidal behavior in abused African American women. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70(2), 311–319. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006X.70.2.311
King, M., Semlyen, J., Tai, S. S., Killaspy, H., Osborn, D., Popelyuk, D., & Nazareth, I. (2008). A systematic review of mental disorder, suicide, and deliberate self harm in lesbian, gay and bisexual people. BMC Psychiatry, 8(1), 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-8-70
Klonsky, E. D., & May, A. M. (2014). Differentiating suicide attempters from suicide ideators: A critical frontier for suicidology research. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 44(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12068
Klonsky, E. D., & May, A. M. (2015). The three-step theory (3ST): A new theory of suicide rooted in the ‘ideation-to-action’ framework. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 8(2), 114–129. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2015.8.2.114
Linda, W. P., Marroquín, B., & Miranda, R. (2012). Active and passive problem solving as moderators of the relation between negative life event stress and suicidal ideation among suicide attempters and non-attempters. Archives of Suicide Research, 16(3), 183–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2012.695233
MacLeod, A. K., & Conway, C. (2007). Well-being and positive future thinking for the self versus others. Cognition & Emotion, 21(5), 1114–1124. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930601109507
MacLeod, A. K., Pankhania, B., Lee, M., & Mitchell, D. (1997). Parasuicide, depression and the anticipation of positive and negative future experiences. Psychological Medicine, 27(4), 973–977.
Malone, K. M., Oquendo, M. A., Haas, G. L., Ellis, S. P., Li, S., & Mann, J. J. (2000). Protective factors against suicidal acts in major depression: Reasons for living. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(7), 1084–1088. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.157.7.1084
Mann, J. J., Waternaux, C., Haas, G. L., & Malone, K. M. (1999). Toward a clinical model of suicidal behavior in psychiatric patients. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 156(2), 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.2.181
McAuliffe, C., Corcoran, P., Keeley, H. S., Arensman, E., Bille-Brahe, U., De Leo, D., … Wasserman, D. (2005). Problem-solving ability and repetition of deliberate self-harm: A multicentre study. Psychological Medicine, 36(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291705005945
Miranda, R., Wheeler, A., Polanco-Roman, L., & Marroquín, B. (2017). The future-oriented repetitive thought (FoRT) scale: A measure of repetitive thinking about the future. Journal of Affective Disorders, 207, 336–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.09.055
Mitchell, S. M., Cukrowicz, K. C., Van Allen, J., & Seegan, P. L. (2015). Moderating role of trait hope in the relation between painful and provocative events and acquired capability for suicide. Crisis, 36(4), 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000319
Morley, S., Davies, C., & Barton, S. (2005). Possible selves in chronic pain: Self-pain enmeshment, adjustment and acceptance. Pain, 115(1), 84–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2005.02.021
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2004). Self-harm: The short-term physical and psychological management and secondary prevention of self-harm in primary and secondary care. Retrieved from http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg16.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2011). Self-harm: Longer term management. Retrieved from https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg133.
O’Connor, R. C. (2007). The relations between perfectionism and suicidality: A systematic review. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37(6), 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2007.37.6.698
O’Connor, R. C. (2011). Towards an integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behaviour. In R. C. O’Connor, S. Platt, & J. Gordon (Eds.), International handbook of suicide prevention: Research, policy and practice (pp. 181–198). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
O’Connor, R. C., Cleare, S., Eschle, S., Wetherall, K., & Kirtley, O. J. (2016). The integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behaviour: An update. In R. C. O’Connor & J. Pirkis (Eds.), International handbook of suicide prevention: Research, policy and practice. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
O’Connor, R. C., Connery, H., & Cheyne, W. M. (2000). Hopelessness: The role of depression, future directed thinking and cognitive vulnerability. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 5(2), 155–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/713690188
O’Connor, R. C., Fraser, L., Whyte, M.-C., MacHale, S., & Masterton, G. (2008). A comparison of specific positive future expectancies and global hopelessness as predictors of suicidal ideation in a prospective study of repeat self-harmers. Journal of Affective Disorders, 110(3), 207–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2008.01.008
O’Connor, R. C., & Nock, M. K. (2014). The psychology of suicidal behaviour. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(1), 73–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(14)70222-6
O’Connor, R. C., & Sheehy, N. P. (2000). Understanding suicidal behaviour. Leicester: BPS Blackwell.
O’Connor, R. C., Smyth, R., Ferguson, E., Ryan, C., & Williams, J. M. G. (2013). Psychological processes and repeat suicidal behavior: A four-year prospective study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81(6), 1137–1143. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033751
O’Connor, R. C., Smyth, R., & Williams, J. M. G. (2015). Intrapersonal positive future thinking predicts repeat suicide attempts in hospital-treated suicide attempters. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 83(1), 169–176. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037846
O’Connor, R., O’Connor, D., O’Connor, S., Smallwood, J., & Miles, J. (2004). Hopelessness, stress, and perfectionism: The moderating effects of future thinking. Cognition & Emotion, 18(8), 1099–1120. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930441000067
O’Connor, R. C., Whyte, M.-C., Fraser, L., Masterton, G., Miles, J., & MacHale, S. (2007). Predicting short-term outcome in well-being following suicidal behaviour: The conjoint effects of social perfectionism and positive future thinking. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45(7), 1543–1555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2006.11.006
O’Connor, R. C., & Williams, J. M. G. (2014). The relationship between positive future thinking, brooding, defeat and entrapment. Personality and Individual Differences, 70, 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.016
Pollock, L. R., & Williams, J. G. (2004). Problem-solving in suicide attempters. Psychological Medicine, 34(1), 163–167. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291703008092
Rasmussen, K. A., & Wingate, L. R. (2011). The role of optimism in the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 41(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-278X.2011.00022.x
Ribeiro, J. D., & Joiner, T. E. (2009). The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior: Current status and future directions. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(12), 1291–1299. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20621
Ribeiro, J. D., Witte, T. K., Van Orden, K. A., Selby, E. A., Gordon, K. H., Bender, T. W., & Joiner, T. E. (2014). Fearlessness about death: The psychometric properties and construct validity of the revision to the Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale. Psychological Assessment, 26(1), 115–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034858
Skerrett, D. M., Kolves, K., & De Leo, D. (2015). Are LGBT populations at a higher risk for suicidal behaviors in Australia? Research findings and implications. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(7), 883–901. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2014.1003009
Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T., … Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(4), 570. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.4.570
Sweeny, K., Carroll, P. J., & Shepperd, J. A. (2006). Is optimism always best? Future outlooks and preparedness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(6), 302–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00457.x
Tang, N. K. Y., Beckwith, P., & Ashworth, P. (2016). Mental defeat is associated with suicide intent in patients with chronic pain. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 32(5), 411–419. https://doi.org/10.1097/AJP.0000000000000276
Tang, N. K. Y., & Crane, C. (2006). Suicidality in chronic pain: A review of the prevalence, risk factors and psychological links. Psychological Medicine, 36(5), 575. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291705006859
Tucker, R. P., O’Connor, R. C., & Wingate, L. R. (2016). An investigation of the relationship between rumination styles, hope, and suicide ideation through the lens of the integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behavior. Archives of Suicide Research, 20(4), 553–566. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2016.1158682
Tucker, R. P., Wingate, L. R., O’Keefe, V. M., Mills, A. C., Rasmussen, K., Davidson, C. L., & Grant, D. M. (2013). Rumination and suicidal ideation: The moderating roles of hope and optimism. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(5), 606–611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.05.013
van Beek, W. (2013). Future thinking in suicidal patients: Development and evaluation of a future oriented group training in a randomized controlled trial (Unpublished PhD thesis). Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands.
van Beek, W., Kerkhof, A., & Beekman, A. (2009). Future oriented group training for suicidal patients: A randomized clinical trial. BMC Psychiatry, 9(1), 65. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-9-65
Van Heeringen, K. (2012). Stress-diathesis model of suicidal behavior. In Y. Dwivedi (Ed.), The neurobiological basis of suicide. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., Cukrowicz, K. C., Braithwaite, S. R., Selby, E. A., & Joiner, T. E. (2010). The interpersonal theory of suicide. Psychological Review, 117(2), 575–600. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018697
Vincent, P. J., Boddana, P., & MacLeod, A. K. (2004). Positive life goals and plans in parasuicide. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 11(2), 90–99. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.394
Walker, K. L., Chang, E. C., & Hirsch, J. K. (2017). Neuroticism and suicidal behavior: Conditional indirect effects of social problem solving and hopelessness. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 15(1), 80–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-016-9648-4
Walsh, S. M. (1993). Future images: An art intervention with suicidal adolescents. Applied Nursing Research, 6(3), 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0897-1897(05)80171-5
Williams, J. M. G. (1997). The cry of pain. London, UK: Penguin.
Williams, J. M. G., & Pollock, L. R. (2001). Psychological aspects of the suicidal process. In K. van Heeringen (Ed.), Understanding suicidal behaviour. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
Williams, J. M., & Broadbent, K. (1986). Autobiographical memory in suicide attempters. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(2), 144–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.95.2.144
Williams, J. M. G., Ellis, N. C., Tyers, C., Healy, H., Rose, G., & Macleod, A. K. (1996). The specificity of autobiographical memory and imageability of the future. Memory & Cognition, 24(1), 116–125. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197278
Williams, J. M. G., Barnhofer, T., Crane, C., Herman, D., Raes, F., Watkins, E., & Dalgleish, T. (2007). Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 122–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.122
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kirtley, O.J., Melson, A.J., O’Connor, R.C. (2018). Future-Oriented Constructs and Their Role in Suicidal Ideation and Enactment. In: Hirsch, J., Chang, E., Kelliher Rabon, J. (eds) A Positive Psychological Approach to Suicide . Advances in Mental Health and Addiction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03225-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03225-8_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03224-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03225-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)