Peer functioning, family dysfunction, and psychological symptoms in a risk factor model for adolescent inpatients' suicidal ideation severity

Examined models of suicidal ideation severity that include two psychosocial risk factors (i.e., peer and family functioning) and four domains of psychological symptoms (i.e., generalized anxiety, depression, conduct problems, and substance abuse/dependence). Participants were 96 psychiatric inpatients (32 boys, 64 girls), ages 12 to 17, who were hospitalized because of concerns of suicidality. Adolescents completed a structured diagnostic interview, measures of suicidal ideation, and several dimensions of family and peer functioning. Results supported a model in which greater levels of perceived peer rejection and lower levels of close friendship support were associated directly with more severe suicidal ideation. In addition, indirect pathways included deviant peer affiliation and global family dysfunction related to suicidal ideation via substance use and depression symptoms. The results are among the first to demonstrate relations between suicidal ideation and several areas of adolescent peer functioning, as well as divergent processes for peer and family predictors of suicidal ideation.     

Self-Esteem and Social Support as Moderators of Depression,Body Image,and Disordered Eating for Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents

The current study investigated risk factors for suicidal ideation in a community sample of 392 adolescents (males 51.9 %; females 48.1 %), while also evaluating self-esteem, perceived parent support, and perceived peer support as protective factors and potential moderators between suicidal ideation and the 3 risk factors. Disordered eating, depression, parent support, and peer support were found to be significant predictors of current suicidal ideation, but body satisfaction was not. The relationship between depression and suicidal ideation was significantly moderated by both self-esteem and parent support, while the relationship between disordered eating and suicidal ideation was significantly moderated by peer support. Results underscore the importance of examining protective factors for suicide risk, as they have the potential to reduce suicidal ideation in adolescents.     

Peer victimization and suicidal ideation: The role of gender and depression in a school-based sample

The current study investigated the relations among traditional and cyber victimization, depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and gender in a school-based sample of 403 9th grade (13 to 16-year-old) adolescents. Path analyses indicated that both traditional victimization and cyber victimization were associated with suicidal ideation indirectly through depressive symptoms. Although there was little evidence of gender differences in the associations among peer victimization and depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, the relation between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation was found to be significantly stronger for girls than boys. The current investigation confirms the complexity of the association between peer victimization and suicidal ideation and that depressive symptoms, as well as gender, may play a role in this complex relation. Future research should continue to explore the associations among victimization, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation within a social ecological framework.     

Social Anxiety Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in a Clinical Sample of Early Adolescents: Examining Loneliness and Social Support as Longitudinal Mediators

Recent research has shown that social anxiety may be related to increased risk for suicidal ideation in teens, although this research largely has been cross-sectional and has not examined potential mediators of this relationship. A clinical sample of 144 early adolescents (72 % female; 12–15 years old) was assessed during psychiatric inpatient hospitalization and followed up at 9 and 18 months post-baseline. Symptoms of social anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, loneliness, and perceived social support were assessed via structured interviews and self-report instruments. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant direct relationship between social anxiety symptoms at baseline and suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline, even after controlling for baseline depressive symptoms and ideation. A second multiple mediation model revealed that baseline social anxiety had a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline through loneliness at 9 months post-baseline. Social anxiety did not have a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation through perceived social support from either parents or close friends. Findings suggest that loneliness may be particularly implicated in the relationship between social anxiety and suicidality in teens. Clinicians should assess and address feelings of loneliness when treating socially anxious adolescents.     

Building social support for adolescents with suicidal ideation: implications for school guidance and counselling

This study involved interviews with 13 adolescents with high levels of suicidal ideation. It aimed to understand how these adolescents perceived their family, school and peer relationships, and how they perceived these systems as their support. Comparison between adolescents with severe and mild suicidal ideation showed that the family, school and peers could act as effective support systems in times of stress. A close interpersonal relationship was the key factor in unlocking these support systems. The school as a support system was highlighted. Implications for school guidance and counselling to strengthen the social support of adolescents and adolescents' resiliency were discussed.     

Suicidal ideation in adolescent psychiatric inpatients as associated with depression and attachment relationships

Examined suicidal ideation in adolescent psychiatric inpatients as associated with depressive symptoms and attachment to mother, father, and peers. Fifty-nine adolescent psychiatric inpatients (25 male, 34 female) completed self-report measures of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, and attachment. Attachment to mother accounted for significant variation in levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. In addition, attachment to peers accounted for significant variation in suicidal ideation and girls' (but not boys') depressive symptoms. However, after adjusting for depressive symptoms, attachment variables failed to contribute additional variance in suicidal ideation. Self-reported depressive symptomatology remained the strongest predictor of suicidal ideation, regardless of its order in the regression analyses. Prevention and treatment efforts may focus on mother-adolescent attachment and peer attachment (particularly in girls) to reduce risk for depression and suicidal ideation.     

Suicidal ideation in Hispanic and mixed-ancestry adolescents.

This survey examined differences in suicidal ideation, depressive symptomatology, acculturation, and coping strategies based on ethnicity. The author gathered data from a self-report questionnaire administered to students in an ethnically diverse middle school (grades 6-8, N= 158). Hispanic (predominantly Mexican American) and mixed-ancestry adolescents displayed significantly higher risk of suicidal ideation compared to Anglo peers, even when socioeconomic status, age, and gender were controlled for. Suicidal ideation was associated with depressive symptoms, family problems, lower levels of acculturation, and various coping strategies. Using multivariate analysis, Hispanic ancestry, depressive symptoms, family problems, and the use of social coping remained in the model.     

Suicidal Risk in Adolescent Residential Treatment: Being Female Is More Important Than a Depression Diagnosis

We investigated the relationship between gender and clinician diagnosis of a depressive disorder at intake on variables reflecting depression among adolescents in residential treatment. It was hypothesized that females diagnosed with a depressive disorder would have the highest scores on measures of suicide risk, the number of symptoms of a major depressive episode, suicidal behavior, and suicidal ideation. Results indicated partial support for the predicted comparisons. Females diagnosed with a depressive disorder scored significantly higher on measures of depressive symptom count and suicidal ideation. Surprisingly, females without a diagnosis of a depressive disorder had higher suicide risk scores than the remaining groups. The results of this study highlight the importance of assessment and treatment of internalizing disorders in youth entering residential programs, particularly female adolescents.     

Family Financial Pressure and Maternal and Adolescent Socioemotional Adjustment: Moderating Effects of Kin Social Support in Low Income African American Families

The moderating effect of kinship social support on the association of family financial pressure with socioemotional adjustment was examined in 200 African American mothers and adolescents. Financial pressure was positively associated with mothers’ depressive symptoms and negatively related to mothers’ optimism about the future. Financial pressure was also positively associated with adolescents’ depressive symptoms and problem behavior. Kin social support was negatively linked to mothers’ depressive symptoms and positively associated with optimism. Kin support was negatively related to adolescents’ problem behavior. Kinship support moderated the association of family financial pressure with mothers’ and adolescents’ adjustment. Positive association of financial pressure with mothers’ depression was less apparent for mothers with more compared to less kin social support. Also, negative association of financial pressure with mothers’ optimism was less apparent for mothers with more compared to less kin social support. Positive relation of financial pressure with adolescents’ problem behavior was less apparent for those with more compared to less kin social support. The need to assess the links of kin social support to other domains of family life such as marital relations is discussed.     

Relationships between stuttering,depression, and suicidal ideation in young adults: Accounting for gender differences

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and living with stuttering while accounting for time, sex, and health-related confounders.MethodThe data for this study come from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative survey study that has followed 13,564 respondents over the course of 14 years. Responses to the question “Do you have a problem with stuttering or stammering?” at two time points were used to establish stuttering and non-stuttering groups. Regression analysis, propensity score matching, and structural equation modeling were used.ResultsCompared to their fluent counterparts, males and females reported significantly elevated symptoms of depression. Although symptoms of depression among males who stutter were stable over time, depressive symptoms among females who stutter increased with age. Compared to males who do not stutter, males who stutter were significantly more likely to report feelings of suicidal ideation. There were no differences in suicidal ideation between females who do and do not stutter.ConclusionsSpeech-language pathologists should be aware of the associations between stuttering and depressive symptoms, as well as the increased risk for suicidal ideation among males who stutter. Clinicians should be knowledgeable about symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation and be familiar with processes to refer as needed.     

Suicidal ideation among adolescent school children, involvement in bully-victim problems, and perceived social support.

Relationships among suicidal ideation, involvement in bully-victim problems at school, and perceived social support were investigated with samples of adolescent students (N = 1103 and N = 845) attending secondary school in South Australia. Results obtained from self-reports and peer nomination procedures to identify bullies and victims indicated that involvement in bully-victim problems at school, especially for students with relatively little social support, was significantly related to degree of suicidal ideation.     

Prospective Predictors of Suicidal Ideation during Depressive Episodes among Older Adolescents and Young Adults

Suicide is a leading cause of death among older adolescents and young adults; however, few studies have prospectively examined risk for suicidal ideation. The present study in older adolescents and young adults investigated whether two personality traits previously implicated in risk for suicidal ideation, neuroticism and extraversion, as well as certain aspects of interpersonal functioning, prospectively predicted endorsement of suicidal ideation during depressive episodes. Participants (n=117) are a subset of the Northwestern-UCLA Youth Emotion Project sample, which started with a group of high school juniors oversampled for high neuroticism. Baseline interpersonal functioning was measured using the Life Stress Interview. Baseline personality trait composite scores were created from multiple inventories. Depressive disorders and suicidal ideation were assessed at the baseline and three annual follow-up interviews using the SCID. Cox regression was employed to predict suicidal ideation during depressive episodes diagnosed at any follow-up interview. Results showed that baseline extraversion inversely predicts suicidal ideation in males only, and that baseline interpersonal problems in one's social circle, regardless of gender, predict suicidal ideation during depressive episodes.     

Parent and peer attachment in early adolescent depression

Insecure attachment relations have been theorized to play a significant role in the development of depressogenic modes of adaptation and to thus form a vulnerability factor for the emergence of depressive disorder in children. This study examined security of parent and peer attachment among four groups of early adolescents: clinically depressed, nondepressed psychiatric controls, nonpsychiatric controls, and adolescents with resolved depression. Depressed adolescents reported significantly less secure parent attachment than either of the control groups, and less secure peer attachment than the nonpsychiatric control group. Attachment security of adolescents with resolved depression was on a par with the nonpsychiatric control group. Among all psychiatric patients, security of attachment to parents was negatively correlated with severity of depression according to interview and self-report ratings. Less secure attachment to parents, but generally not to peers, was also related to more maladaptive attributional styles, presence of separation anxiety disorder, and history of suicidal ideation.     

A Longitudinal Investigation of Depression,Hopelessness, Social Support,and Major and Minor Life Events and Their Relation to Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents

The longitudinal relationship of psychological and social-environmental factors with adolescent suicidal ideation over a 1-year-period was examined in a sample of 374 high school students. Students were assessed twice over a 1-year period with measures of depression, hopelessness, major negative life events, daily hassles, social support, and suicidal ideation. At the initial assessment, daily hassles and negative life events for males and social support and depression for females were significant factors related to suicidal ideation levels 1 year later. Changes in depression and hopelessness were significantly related to changes in suicidal ideation over the 1 year interval for males and females. Differences found between males and females in the relationship of psychological and social-environmental variables with suicidal ideation supports the need to examine gender specific relationships when conducting research on suicidal behavior in adolescents.     

An investigation of psychopathology in nonreferred suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents

This investigation examined self-reported psychopathology in a school-based sample of 456 suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents. The sample consisted of four groups: three at-risk for suicidal behavior based on current suicidal ideation as assessed by the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ; Reynolds, 1988), past suicide attempts, or both; and one nonsuicidal comparison group. Psychopathology was examined using ten scales from the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale (APS; Reynolds, 1998a) including: Major Depression, Conduct Disorder, Substance Abuse, Schizophrenia, Adjustment Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, and Avoidant Personality Disorder. Analyses were conducted separately for males and females using a MANOVA design that examined psychopathology severity among the four groups. Adolescents who engaged in past or current suicidal behavior had higher psychopathology severity scores compared to their nonsuicidal peers. Males with current suicidal thoughts who had attempted suicide had the highest levels of psychopathology severity compared to males in the other three groups. Females with a past suicide attempt or current suicidal ideation had higher psychopathology severity scores compared to nonsuicidal females. Results show greater psychopathology in school-based adolescents who have engaged in past and/or current suicidal behavior. The need for clinicians and mental health professionals working with at-risk youth to focus on concurrent psychopathology along with suicidal behavior is discussed.     

Peer Victimization and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Depressed Adolescents

Suicide is a leading cause of death among youth worldwide, and depressed adolescents are at a significantly elevated risk to report suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts. Peer victimization is a robust predictor of adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), but little research has focused on why bullying leads to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. To address this empirical gap, we recruited 340 (246 female) depressed adolescents ages 13–19 (M = 15.59, SD = 1.41) within 48 h of admission for acute psychiatric treatment. At the initial assessment, participants were administered clinical interviews characterizing psychopathology, nonsuicidal self-injury, and STBs (ideation, plans, and attempts). Further, they completed questionnaires assessing 3 forms of victimization (overt, relational, and reputational), recent risky behavior engagement, and psychiatric symptom severity. Controlling for internalizing symptoms and age, overt and reputational bullying were associated with more frequent past month suicide attempts, but not suicide ideation. Past month risky behavior engagement, but not NSSI, mediated the relation between victimization and attempts. However, sex differences revealed that this effect only held for males whereas bullying was directly associated with suicide attempts among females. In contrast, overt and relational bullying were non-linearly associated with suicide plans, and these relations were not mediated by risky behaviors or NSSI. Results highlight the complex network of factors that lead victimized adolescents to engage in STBs and may inform targeted suicide prevention and intervention programs.     

Social-Cognitive Moderators of the Relationship between Peer Victimization and Suicidal Ideation among Psychiatrically Hospitalized Adolescents

Peer victimization among children and adolescents is a major public health concern, given its widespread individual and societal ramifications. Victims of peer aggression often face significant levels of psychological distress and social difficulties, such as depression, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and social rejection. The purpose of this study was to examine whether cognitive distortions and perceptions of social support moderate the association between peer victimization and suicidal thoughts among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Participants included 183 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents (ages 13 to 18). In multiple regression analyses that controlled for gender, social and cognitive factors served as significant resource factors. Cognitive factors also moderated the relationship between peer victimization and suicidal ideation.     

Linking family dysfunction to suicidal ideation: Mediating roles of self-views and world-views

Research on suicide has documented various factors predicting suicidal ideation. The present study focused on the pathways emanating from one of the external, environmental forces (i.e. family dysfunction) through internal responses (beliefs about oneself and about the world), to suicidal ideation among Hong Kong Chinese. Using structural equation modelling, we tested the mediating roles of depressive self-views (including stress perception, depressive cognition and negative self-esteem) as well as two dimensions of social axioms (social cynicism and negative reward for application). Multi-group analysis showed that the mediation model was invariant across both males and females. Being socialized into a problematic family of origin affected multiple aspects of one's assessments of both oneself and one's world which, in turn, lead to greater suicidal ideation. Our findings provide important implications for assessing suicidal risk and guiding interventions in clinical treatment.     

云南省大学生自杀行为及相关因素分析

采用SCL-90、青少年生活事件量表、应对方式量表、社会支持评定量表和自编的外显行为量表对云南省3313名大学生进行了测查,并探讨了包括自杀意念及自杀企图在内的自杀行为状况及其影响因素。结果表明:(1)427(13.2%)名大学生有自杀意念,卡方检验显示女生人数显著多于男生;154(4.7%)名大学生有过自杀企图,男女生人数没有显著差异;(2)自杀意念和自杀企图在人口统计学变量上有显著差异:在自杀意念上,女生、独生子女、文科生、来自城市的学生和不完整家庭的学生、月支出少于100元的学生得分显著高于与之对应的大学生;而在自杀企图上,只有来自城市的学生和不完整家庭的学生、月支出少于100元的学生得分显著高于与之对应的大学生;(3)大学生自杀意念和自杀企图与心理症状、生活事件、情感中心应对呈显著的正相关,与问题中心应对、社会支持呈显著的负相关;(4)在结构模型中,社会支持在心理症状和自杀行为中起到显著的调节作用,情感中心应对在生活事件、社会支持、社会支持对心理症状的调节作用中起显著的中介作用,而问题中心应对在生活事件、社会支持、社会支持对事件的调节作用中起显著的中介作用。     

Gender differences in adolescent coping behaviors and suicidal ideation: findings from a sample of 73,238 adolescents

Suicide among adolescents is an emerging global public health problem as well as a socioeconomic problem. Stress-coping strategies have been shown to be associated with suicidal ideation. We examined coping behaviors related to suicidal ideation and gender differences in adolescents using the data from the 2010 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (ages 12–19 years; N = 73,238). Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate associations between suicidal ideation and specific coping behaviors while controlling for potentially confounding variables. In both male and female groups, the coping behavior “drinking alcoholic beverages” and “smoking cigarettes” were positively associated with suicidal ideation. “Watching TV,” “playing online/mobile games,” and “sleeping” were negatively associated with suicidal ideation in both groups. In males, “engaging in sports” was negatively related to suicidal ideation. In females, “venting by talking to others” and “eating” were negatively related to suicidal ideation. The results indicate that there are gender differences in the effects of coping behaviors on adolescent suicidal ideation, and that developing adaptive coping strategies may function to reduce suicidality. Future studies are needed to examine whether improving coping skills can reduce suicidal ideation in a gender-specific manner.