Objective: Suicide attempts and self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) are known to be elevated among people with bulimia nervosa (BN). The aim of the current study was to examine the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS) as a framework for understanding, assessing, and mitigating suicidal behavior among women with BN. The IPTS suggests that for individuals to enact lethal suicide attempts, they must have both the desire to die (consisting of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness) as well as the capability to die (often acquired through repeated exposure to provocative or painful experiences).

Method: Two-hundred and four women with eating disorders, the majority of whom met criteria for a current DSM-IV diagnosis of BN, completed measures from which proxies for IPTS variables were formed. Bivariate correlations and multiple regressions tested main effects and interactions of study variables. Tests of the difference between dependent correlations probed differential associations between study variables and suicidal ideation versus suicidal behavior.

Results and Conclusions: Results yielded considerable but not unalloyed support for the theory, with desire to die variables (particularly perceived burdensomeness) more strongly associating with suicidal ideation than behavior, and the opposite holding true regarding capability. These findings suggest that the IPTS may provide a useful framework for understanding, assessing, and mitigating suicide risk among individuals with BN.

目的：众所周知，神经性贪食症 (BN) 患者的自杀企图和自伤行为 (SIB) 会升高。当前研究的目的是检查自杀的人际心理理论 (IPTS) 作为理解、评估和减轻 BN 女性自杀行为的框架。IPTS 建议，对于实施致命自杀企图的个人，他们必须同时具有死亡的愿望（包括受挫的归属感和感知的负担）以及死亡的能力（通常通过反复暴露于刺激或痛苦的经历中获得）。

方法： 204 名患有饮食失调的女性，其中大多数符合当前 DSM-IV BN 诊断的标准，完成测量，从中形成 IPTS 变量的代理。双变量相关性和多元回归测试了研究变量的主要影响和相互作用。依赖相关性之间差异的测试探讨了研究变量和自杀意念与自杀行为之间的差异关联。

结果和结论：结果为该理论提供了大量但并非完全的支持，死亡的愿望变量（尤其是感知到的负担）与自杀意念的关联比行为更强烈，而在能力方面则相反。这些发现表明，IPTS 可能为理解、评估和减轻 BN 患者的自杀风险提供有用的框架。