Historic and Recent Suicide Risk: Does Causality Orientation Matter?

OBJECTIVE: Low perceived control over suicidal urges has been associated with greater suicide risk. Within Self-Determination Theory, causality orientations are stable motivational drivers shaping beliefs about control over external events. Orientations are three separate but related dimensions varying in levels of perceived agency (autonomous, control, impersonal). This study is believed to be the first to explore relationships between causality orientations and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). METHODS: Participants were users of an Australian suicide safety planning smartphone app (N = 589) with a lifetime history of STBs. Measures included causality orientation, past-month suicidal ideation, future suicide intent, and lifetime suicidal behaviors. Correlations, logistic, and multiple regressions explored cross-sectional associations between causality orientations and STBs. RESULTS: Low agency (impersonal orientation) was associated with higher past-month suicidal ideation and future suicide intent. Autonomous orientation was associated with greater odds of a lifetime suicide plan. Participants high on both impersonal and autonomous orientations reported higher past-month suicidal ideation and greater likelihood of a past-month suicide attempt. All effect sizes were small. CONCLUSIONS: Causality orientations explain limited variance in lifetime and past-month STBs. Motivational beliefs reflecting futility (impersonal) or conflicted agency (impersonal + autonomous) may contribute modestly to suicidal distress alongside other risk factors. Future studies could examine real-time motivational drivers of STBs.