Florida State University, United States.
J Affect Disord. 2011 Mar;129(1-3):301-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2010.07.023. Epub 2010 Aug 16.
Multiple studies have reported a link between high levels of impulsivity and suicidal behavior. Joiner's (2005) explanation for this link is that impulsive individuals have a greater tendency to experience painful and provocative events that habituate them to fear and pain, which leads to an acquired capability for engaging in suicidal behavior.
Study 1 tested Joiner's (2005) hypothesis in a sample of 182 undergraduate students who completed self-report questionnaires on impulsivity, frequency of painful and provocative events, and acquired capability for suicide. In addition to self-report, pain tolerance (an aspect of acquired capability for suicide) was measured with a pressure algometer. Study 2 sought to replicate our findings from Study 1 in a sample of 516 clinical outpatients using a multi-faceted measure of impulsivity.
Consistent with prediction, product of coefficients tests for mediation (MacKinnon et al., 2002) revealed that impulsivity has an indirect relationship with acquired capability for suicidal behavior, and that this relationship is mediated by painful and provocative events.
Data from our studies are cross-sectional in nature, which does not allow for conclusions about the temporal ordering of our variables. In addition, self-report was used to measure most variables. Future research may benefit from a longitudinal design and the inclusion of other modes of assessment (e.g., behavioral measures of impulsivity).
Our findings suggest that the link between impulsivity and suicidal behavior occurs because impulsive people tend to have a greater capability for suicidal behavior, which they have acquired through experiencing painful and provocative events.
多项研究报告指出冲动水平与自杀行为之间存在关联。Joiner（2005）对这种关联的解释是，冲动的个体更倾向于经历痛苦和挑衅性的事件，这些事件使他们习惯了恐惧和痛苦，从而获得了自杀行为的能力。
研究 1 在 182 名大学生样本中检验了 Joiner（2005）的假设，这些学生完成了关于冲动、痛苦和挑衅性事件频率以及自杀获得能力的自我报告问卷。除了自我报告，疼痛耐受力（自杀获得能力的一个方面）还通过压力测痛计进行了测量。研究 2 试图在 516 名临床门诊患者的样本中复制我们在研究 1 中的发现，使用多方面的冲动测量方法。
与预测一致，中介的乘积系数检验（MacKinnon 等人，2002）表明，冲动与自杀获得能力之间存在间接关系，这种关系是由痛苦和挑衅性事件介导的。
我们研究的数据是横断面的，这并不允许对我们变量的时间顺序做出结论。此外，大多数变量都是通过自我报告来衡量的。未来的研究可能受益于纵向设计和包括其他评估模式（例如，冲动的行为测量）。
我们的发现表明，冲动和自杀行为之间的联系是因为冲动的人更倾向于具有更大的自杀行为能力，而这种能力是通过经历痛苦和挑衅性事件获得的。
