Negative Affectivity and Suicide Risk: The Buffering Role of Gratitude and Optimism in Spanish Adolescents.

Abstract

The role of optimism and gratitude in the link between negative affectivity and suicide risk (viz., depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation) was examined in a sample of 1401 Spanish adolescents. Overall, the results of a set of hierarchical regression analyses supported the prediction of optimism and gratitude as predictors of suicide risk. Moreover, we analyzed whether the negative affectivity optimism/gratitude interaction term explains the unique variance in depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. The results show that optimism and gratitude buffered the association between negative affectivity and depressive symptoms/ suicidal ideation, indicating that among adolescents experiencing negative affectivity, those who presented a high level of optimism and gratitude reported a lower risk of suicide. Finally, the practical implications of these novel findings regarding the role of optimism and gratitude in preventing suicide risk among adolescents are discussed.