Date on Senior Honors Thesis

5-2026

Document Type

Senior Thesis

Degree Name

B.S.

Cooperating University

University of Louisville

Department

Psychological and Brain Sciences

Degree Program

College of Arts and Sciences

Committee Chair

Dr. Nadia Al-Dajani

Committee Member

Dr. Konrad Bresin

Committee Member

Dr. Michael Portal

Author's Keywords

Dissociation; Financial Stress; Suicidal Ideation; Moderation Analysis

Abstract

Prediction of suicide risk has not improved despite decades of research (e.g., Franklin et al., 2017). Given this, researchers have highlighted the importance of integrating multiple risk factors to better understand the suicidal phenomenon, including suicidal ideation (SI), and propel the field forward. Two factors that may influence suicide risk independently and in concert include: financial stress, the subjective stress that individuals face in response to their financial circumstances, which can amplify suicide risk (Elbogen et al., 2020), and dissociation, a complex internal psychological process that impacts memory, perception, and identity (Macia et al., 2023). Independently, financial stress and dissociation have been linked to heightened suicide risk (Roelfs & Shor, 2023; Pachkowski et al., 2024). Yet their interactive influence on SI remains underexamined, despite evidence linking dissociation to high-stress contexts (De Wachter et al., 2006). This study sought to address this gap by investigating whether dissociation moderates the relationship between financial stress and past-week SI. Cross-sectional data collection was conducted from a combined community and undergraduate sample in a major metropolitan area of Kentucky, among those with prior suicidal thoughts or behaviors (N= 160, Mean age = 21.13, SD age = 7.25, % women = 70.3%). Dissociation was found to be strongly associated with past-week SI, whereas financial stress by itself did not significantly predict past-week SI. Moderation analyses, however, revealed a significant interaction between financial stress and dissociation (p = .016). Simple slopes analyses indicated a marginal inverse association between financial stress and past-week SI at higher levels of dissociation (p = .07), and was further probed using a Johnson-Neyman plot; the effect was determined to be significant at +1.31 SD. Findings highlight how stressors form vulnerability states and how their regulation influences suicidal ideation.

Lay Summary

  Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and has drastically increased since the year 2000. Understanding the factors that contribute to suicidal thoughts is important for suicide prevention and intervention. In this study, we examine two important factors: financial stress, the pressure individuals express with regard to meeting their financial demands, and dissociation, a mental state that can result in the dysregulation of a person’s thoughts, emotions, and awareness. In this study, we hypothesize that both factors will be independently linked to suicidal thoughts, and dissociation specifically will influence how financial stress relates to suicidal thoughts. Participants completed an online survey about their recent financial stress, dissociative experiences, and suicidal thoughts. The results showed that dissociation was independently linked to suicidal thoughts, whereas financial stress alone was not. However, when examined together, dissociation appeared to change how financial stress was related to suicidal thoughts. These findings highlight the importance of examining how multiple factors may interact and influence suicidal thoughts and risk.

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