Study maps psychological networks linked to suicidal ideation

Suicidal ideation can involve interconnected psychological processes. Researchers from Pusan National University examined 2,018 adults across Italy, Korea, the UK, and the US to map psychosocial networks related to suicidal ideation. Perceived burdensomeness showed the strongest direct association with suicidal ideation, while defeat and internal entrapment were among the most central factors in the broader network.

Suicidal ideation (SI) can arise from motivational, interpersonal, and protective factors. Yet it remains unclear which psychological experiences are associated with SI across countries and which may depend on context. The study examined these relationships through a psychosocial network approach, combining suicide theories with social comparison and reasons for living. The analysis therefore examined the relationships among these experiences as a connected system, while also considering whether similar associations appeared consistently or differed across the four countries included in the study examined here.

The research team was led by Professor Eun-Jung Shim from the Department of Psychology at Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea, in collaboration with doctoral student Dapin Cho from the same department and Professor Rory O'Connor and Dr. Banu Cankaya Sahin from the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory at the University of Glasgow, UK. They examined 2,018 adults aged 18–60 years in Italy, Korea, the UK, and the US. Participants completed measures of SI severity, defeat and entrapment, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, social comparison, relative deprivation, and reasons for living. Researchers estimated country-specific networks. This paper was made available online on September 6, 2026 and will be published in Volume 415 of the Journal of Affective Disorders on December 15, 2026.

The overall network contained 39 connections. The strongest links were between ability- and opinion-based comparison, defeat and internal entrapment, and fear of social disapproval and moral objections. SI was directly associated with perceived burdensomeness, defeat, and internal entrapment, while survival and coping beliefs were negatively associated with SI. Defeat had the highest expected influence centrality, whereas perceived burdensomeness had the greatest relative importance for SI. The model explained 25.16% of SI severity variance.

"Perceived burdensomeness showed the strongest direct association with suicidal ideation, while defeat and internal entrapment were more central within the wider psychosocial network," explains Prof. Shim.

Country-specific analyses showed broadly similar structures alongside differences. Defeat was directly linked to SI in Italy, Korea, and the UK, but not in the US. Perceived burdensomeness was directly linked to SI in Italy, the UK, and the US, but not in Korea. Survival and coping beliefs were negatively associated with SI in the UK and Italy. Ability-based comparison was linked to defeat only in Korea. Explained variance ranged from 20.74% in Korea to 39.71% in the UK.

Prof. Shim said, "These findings suggest that understanding SI may require attention to both experiences that are closely linked with suicidal thoughts and those that are interconnected multiple psychological processes."

The findings may inform suicide prevention and mental health research by encouraging greater attention to the broader psychological context surrounding suicidal thoughts. Feeling like a burden, feeling defeated or trapped, and having reasons or beliefs that support continued living may provide relevant information about this broader context.

However, the study was cross-sectional and cannot establish causal pathways. Country differences should not be interpreted as fixed cultural characteristics because cultural dimensions were not directly measured.

Overall, the study identifies broadly shared and context-dependent patterns in the psychosocial network of suicidal ideation. Perceived burdensomeness, defeat, and entrapment were associated with SI, while social comparison, relative deprivation, and some protective factors showed greater cross-national variation. As a next step, the team has completed longitudinal follow-up in selected countries and is now analysing how these psychological processes change over time and relate to subsequent suicidal ideation.