Taken together, our findings have important implications for both suicide research and clinical work with suicidal patients. First, in regard to future research, much of the extant literature focuses on negative suicide risk factors, while there has been a relatively limited focus on the presence of protective factors for suicide. Determining the extent to which protective factors are present is an important complement to obtaining information about more traditional negative risk factors in assessing risk potential for suicidal thoughts or engaging in suicidal behaviors. It is important to highlight that we are not denying the extreme value and utility of the constructs of depression and hopelessness as risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behavior. Instead, we are suggesting that RFL is another important cognitive factor and that this construct appears to account for at least some of the association between known suicide risk factors and suicidality.