Internal and External Entrapment, Defeat, and Suicidal Ideation: Differences Between Patients With Suicidal Behavior and Ideation

Background: The present study is an observational, analytical, and cross-sectional examination of how the integrated motivational volitional (IMV) model of suicide applies to a clinical population. It differentiates between two groups of patients: those exhibiting suicidal ideation (SI) and those engaging in suicidal behavior (SB). The sample consists of 93 patients, with 56 in the SI group and 37 in the SB group, with an age range starting from 14 years old. Methods: Data collection occurred from May 2021 to December 2022 at a Suicide Risk Outpatient Care clinic. The Entrapment Scale, Defeat Scale, and Beck’s SI Scale were used as validated scales to measure cognitive variables. Results: Moderate to strong associations were found between internal and external entrapment, defeat, and both SI and SB for the Beck SI Scale. Specifically, for the SB group, there were strong positive correlations between internal entrapment (0.680**) and external entrapment (0.740**) with the Defeat Scale, both statistically significant at p < 0.01. In contrast, the SI group showed moderate positive correlations between internal entrapment (0.540**) and external entrapment (0.460**) with the Defeat Scale, also significant at p < 0.01. Conclusions: Our results highlight the importance of motivational factors, particularly internal and external entrapment and defeat. It is proposed that these factors could be addressed by universal prevention strategies for external entrapment, and also by strengthening protective factors related to internal entrapment, such as coping mechanisms and a sense of meaning.