Abstract
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms and suicidal behaviors are prevalent among undergraduate students. Although rumination contributes to self-destructive behaviors in BPD, less research examines the role of rumination in distinct suicidal outcomes among individuals with BPD features instead focusing more on self-destructive behaviors as a latent variable. The present study examined the main and interactive effects of BPD features and two forms of rumination (brooding and anger) in the prediction of suicide-related outcomes (ideation and attempts) among college students. Participants (N = 181 undergraduate students, overrecruited for BPD features; 55.2% female) reported their lifetime suicide risk, brooding rumination, anger rumination, and BPD features. Brooding rumination and BPD features were associated with suicidal ideation. Anger rumination was not associated with suicide-related outcomes. Findings suggest that brooding rumination is a potential intervention target for suicidal ideation in undergraduate students whereas further research is required to determine the association between anger rumination and suicidal ideation and attempts.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
DATA AVAILABILITY
The data that supports the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Grace Y. Cho
Grace Y. Cho, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA. Ms. Cho is a clinical psychology graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research examines targetable cognitive and social processes that underlie suicide risk.
Elinor E. Waite
Elinor E. Waite, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA. Ms. Waite is a clinical psychology graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research focuses on deficits in social learning among people with borderline personality disorder.
Brooke A. Ammerman
Brooke A. Ammerman, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA. Dr. Ammerman received her doctorate from Temple University and now serves as an Assistant Professor at University of Notre Dame. Her research examines the spectrum of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, including non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. She seeks to understand how various intra- and inter- personal factors interact to increase chronic or imminent risk of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, with a particular interest in the interpersonal context in which these thoughts and behaviors occur.
Katherine L. Dixon-Gordon
Katherine L. Dixon-Gordon, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA. Dr. Dixon-Gordon is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She received her doctorate from Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on understanding how emotions and the way people manage them can lead to self-destructive behaviors and other problems, especially in the context of psychopathology, with a focus on borderline personality disorder.