Discomfort Intolerance and the Acquired Capability for Suicide

Background: Suicide is the third leading cause of death among college students. The interpersonal theory of suicide may provide a way to conceptualize suicide risk in this population. Aims: We sought to examine relations between illegal behaviors that may act as risk factors for suicide and the acquired capability for suicide. Method: College students (N = 758) completed assessments of acquired capability and previous exposure to painful and provocative events, including illegal risk behaviors (IRBs). Linear regression, a nonparametric bootstrapping procedure, and two-tailed partial correlations were employed to test our hypotheses. Results: There was no significant relation between IRBs and acquired capability after controlling for legal painful and provocative experiences. A significant positive relation was identified between IRBs and fear/anxiety, contradicting the expected relation between increased painful and provocative experiences and lower fear/anxiety. Acquired capability explained variance in the relation between IRBs and history of suicide attempt or self-injury history. Conclusion: Further research is needed to examine links between IRBs and painful and provocative events, particularly to identify the point at which habituation begins to increase acquired capability, as our unexpected results may be due to a lack of habituation to risky behaviors or low variability of scores in the sample.

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Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale

PsycTESTS Dataset ◽

10.1037/t14756-000 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Theodore W. Bender ◽

K. H. Gordon ◽

T. E. Joiner

Keyword(s):

Acquired Capability

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Predictors of Suicide Attempt Status: Acquired Capability, Ideation, and Reasons

Psychiatric Quarterly ◽

10.1007/s11126-014-9302-x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 85 (4) ◽

pp. 427-437 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Prachi Kene ◽

Joseph D. Hovey

Keyword(s):

Suicide Attempt ◽

Acquired Capability

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Fasting and acquired capability for suicide: A test of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide in an undergraduate sample

Psychiatry Research ◽

10.1016/j.psychres.2014.11.059 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 226 (1) ◽

pp. 61-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Kelly L. Zuromski ◽

Tracy K. Witte

Keyword(s):

Psychological Theory ◽

Acquired Capability ◽

Interpersonal Psychological Theory

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35% Carbon Dioxide Reactivity In A Bulimia Nervosa Sample

10.32920/ryerson.14657763 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrea Woznica

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Bulimia Nervosa ◽

Vital Capacity ◽

Distress Tolerance ◽

Self Report ◽

Discomfort Intolerance ◽

State And Trait Anxiety ◽

Carbon Dioxide Reactivity ◽

Anxiety Depression

This study extended research on the specificity of the effects of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) challenge by examining panic reactivity in participants with bulimia nervosa (BN) (n=15) compared to those without bulimia nervosa (n=31). All participants completed self-report measures assessing state and trait anxiety, depression, anxiety sensitivity (AS), distress tolerance (DT), discomfort intolerance (DI), and eating disorder features. They subsequently breathed two vital capacity inhalations; room air and 35% CO₂-enriched air. Reactivity to room air was not different between groups. However, participants with BN displayed greater reactivity to CO₂ compared to the participants with BN. AS, DI, and DT could not be tested as potential mediators in the association between diagnostic group and reactivity because these constructs were not associated with reactivity. Eating disorder features and frequency of binges and purges were also not associated with reactivity. Detailed implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

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