Future orientation moderates the relationship between functional status and suicide ideation in depressed adults.
Functional impairment might amplify suicide risk in later life. A positive view of the future may reduce this risk. We tested the hypothesis that hopelessness and positive future orientation moderate the association between functional status and suicide ideation in a sample of 136 patients, 55 years of age or older, in treatment for depression. Future orientation moderated the association between functional status and suicide ideation; hopelessness did not. Although prospective research is needed to test more rigorously the hypothesized protective role of positive future orientation, our data suggest that treatments designed to enhance future orientation might decrease suicide risk.
Hirsch
Jameson K
JK
Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA. jkhgla@rit.edu
Duberstein
Paul R
PR
Conner
Kenneth R
KR
Heisel
Marnin J
MJ
Beckman
Anthony
A
Franus
Nathan
N
Conwell
Yeates
Y
D000368:Aged; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors