Childhood Emotional Abuse and Suicidal Ideation Intensity: The Serial Effects of Rejection Sensitivity and Thwarted Interpersonal Needs

Background: Rejection sensitivity (hypersensitivity and reactivity to threats of rejection due to previous rejection experiences) could provide insight into the role of childhood emotional abuse and associated interpersonal risk factors in the development of suicide ideation (SI).Objective: The current study examined SI among at-risk young adults using an integrated model of rejection sensitivity and suicide risk, as conceptualized by the interpersonal theory of suicide. We hypothesized that childhood emotional abuse would be indirectly prospectively associated with increases in SI intensity at 4-month follow-up (a cognitive-affective reaction to rejection) through greater rejection sensitivity and greater perceptions of rejection (thwarted belonging [TB] and perceived burden [PB]), in serial. Participants and Setting: Participants were 148 young adult men and women (ages 18-35) with SI and/or suicidal behaviors within the past 4 months. Participants were recruited as part of a larger one-year longitudinal study of suicide risk in a transdiagnostic sample of young adults.Methods: PROCESS serial mediation procedures were used to test the hypothesis that emotional abuse would be indirectly associated with increased SI intensity at 4-month follow-up through rejection sensitivity and TB or PB, in serial.Results: Results indicated that childhood emotional abuse was prospectively associated with elevated SI intensity in adulthood through the indirect effects of rejection sensitivity and PB (std. est. = .04; 95% CI = -0.03, 0.11) but not TB. Conclusion: Greater emotional abuse in childhood was associated with a greater sensitivity to rejection, which may perpetuate a cycle that increases risk for SI throughout adolescence and adulthood.