A Short‐Term, Prospective Test of the Interpersonal–Psychological Theory of Suicidal Ideation in an Adolescent Clinical Sample

Abstract

The present prospective study tested a portion of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) in an adolescent clinical sample. Participants were 143 adolescents consecutively admitted to a partial hospitalization program who completed assessments at intake and discharge from the program. Results partially supported the IPTS and suggest that (1) perceived burdensomeness may be an important socially based cognition for understanding concurrent risk for suicidal ideation (SI); (2) thwarted belongingness affects depression symptom severity over time, which indirectly predicts SI over a short follow-up time frame; and (3) the IPTS constructs may function differently in a high-risk clinical adolescent sample, compared to adults, although findings are preliminary.