Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 33, No. 6, 2014, pp. 512-535 512 © 2014 Guilford Publications, Inc. Address correspondence to Tracy K. Witte, Auburn University, Department of Psychology, 226 Thach Hall, Auburn, AL 36849; E-mail: tracy.witte@auburn.edu VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE GAUTHIER ET AL. THE INTERPERSONAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY OF SUICIDE AND EXPOSURE TO VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE JAMI M. GAUTHIER, KELLY L. ZUROMSKI, SETH A. GITTER, TRACY K. WITTE, AND IAN J. CERO Auburn University KATHRYN H. GORDON North Dakota State University JESSICA RIBEIRO Florida State University MICHAEL ANESTIS University of Southern Mississippi THOMAS JOINER Florida State University According to the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS), individu- als become capable of withstanding the pain and fear associated with a suicide attempt through habituation to painful and/or frightening stimuli. This capability, referred to as the acquired capability for suicide, is composed of both pain toler- ance and fearlessness about death. Although most often these two components have been confounded in the literature, recent investigations utilizing the IPTS have found differential relationships between these components and speciic life experiences. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between exposure to violent video games and both components of acquired capability. Given that a limited number of studies have found relationships between suicide ideation and excessive video game play, we also investigated the relationships among violent video game exposure, thwarted belongingness, perceived burden-