Maynard Hannah, Gregory James D, Davies Andrea, Fox John R E
Cardiff University, School of Psychology, Tower Building, Cardiff, UK.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Navigation Park, Abercynon, Mountain Ash, UK.
Behav Cogn Psychother. 2025 Jun;53(2):184-196. doi: 10.1017/S1352465825000037. Epub 2025 Mar 25.
Although research has highlighted that suicidal imagery (SuiMI) and experiential avoidance (EA) are important in understanding suicidality, there is a need to understand how they potentially interact. Previous research has highlighted that EA potentially leads to increased cognitive intrusions, but it not known whether EA leads to increased SuiMI.
The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of SuiMI and EA on suicidality (i.e. encompassing thoughts, behaviour and suicide attempts). It was hypothesised that greater frequency of SuiMI would be associated with greater EA. It was also hypothesised that greater SuiMI would be associated with greater suicidality, and that EA would moderate this relationship.
Hypotheses were tested by surveying 197 general university students who completed self-report measures that assessed suicide-related mental imagery (i.e. Suicidal Imagery Questionnaire, SIQ), experiential avoidance (i.e. Multi-dimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire, MEAQ) and suicidality (i.e. Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire-Revised, SBQ-R).
Frequency of SuiMI was positively correlated with the tendency to engage in EA. SuiMI was a significant predictor of both suicidality and EA. Exploratory analysis found that voluntary SuiMI explained greater variance in suicidality than intrusive, involuntary SuiMI, and that SuiMI only predicted EA in low-risk participants and not for those at high risk of suicide. EA did not predict suicidality and it also did not show any moderating effect on the relationship between SuiMI and suicidality.
There is evidence to suggest that suicide-related mental imagery may play an important role in suicide risk and more specifically imagery that is voluntarily engaged with. Future research is needed to explore the different types of imagery in relation to suicidal ideation in populations at higher risk of suicide.
尽管研究强调自杀意象（SuiMI）和经验性回避（EA）在理解自杀倾向方面很重要，但仍有必要了解它们之间可能的相互作用方式。先前的研究表明，EA可能会导致认知侵入增加，但尚不清楚EA是否会导致SuiMI增加。
本研究旨在探讨SuiMI和EA对自杀倾向（即包括想法、行为和自杀未遂）的影响。研究假设SuiMI频率越高，EA程度越高。还假设SuiMI越高，自杀倾向越高，且EA会调节这种关系。
通过对197名普通大学生进行调查来检验假设，这些学生完成了自我报告测量，评估了与自杀相关的心理意象（即自杀意象问卷，SIQ）、经验性回避（即多维经验性回避问卷，MEAQ）和自杀倾向（即自杀行为问卷修订版，SBQ-R）。
SuiMI频率与EA倾向呈正相关。SuiMI是自杀倾向和EA的重要预测因子。探索性分析发现，自愿性SuiMI比侵入性、非自愿性SuiMI能更好地解释自杀倾向的差异，且SuiMI仅在低风险参与者中预测EA，而在高自杀风险者中则不然。EA不能预测自杀倾向，也未对SuiMI与自杀倾向之间的关系产生调节作用。
有证据表明，与自杀相关的心理意象可能在自杀风险中起重要作用，尤其是自愿产生的意象。未来需要进一步研究，以探讨在自杀风险较高人群中，与自杀意念相关的不同类型意象。
