Hope and the Interpersonal‐Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior: Replication and Extension of Prior Findings

The interpersonal‐psychological theory of suicidal behavior (IPTS; Joiner, 2005) posits that suicidal behavior occurs when an individual has a desire for death (due to the combination of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness) in addition to an acquired capacity for suicide, which is present when the individual has a low fear of death and high pain tolerance. Previous research has demonstrated an expected negative relation between trait hope and perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, as well as a more perplexing finding that hope is positively associated with the acquired capability. In a sample of 230 college students, measures of the three components of the IPTS were administered, along with measures of hope, depression, and painful and/or provocative events. Hierarchical regression analyses replicated the previously found associations between hope and burdensomeness and belongingness while controlling for depression and demographic variables. The positive association between hope and acquired capacity was also replicated, but a mediation analysis demonstrated that the effect was statistically accounted for by distress tolerance. The results further support the incremental validity of hope as a consideration in suicide risk assessments and suggest that hope may serve as a protective factor with respect to suicidal desire.     

Mediating and Moderating Effects of Social Support in the Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Hope Levels in Children

This study aims to examine whether hope levels are predicted by social anxiety and social support and to investigate if the relationship between social anxiety and children’s hope levels is mediated and moderated by the social support of children. The Social Anxiety Scale for Children, Children’s Hope Scale, and Social Support Appraisals Scale for Children were administrated to a sample of 289 children (148 males and 141 females) enrolled in public school. To determine the relationships between variables, a Pearson correlation coefficient was utilized. Regression-based mediation and moderation analyses assessed whether social support mediates and moderates the relationship between social anxiety and children’s hope levels. Social anxiety and social support both correlated significantly with children’s hope levels; social anxiety had a negative correlation with children’s hope levels, while social support was positively correlated. Regression-based mediation and moderation analyses showed that social support mediates and moderates the relationship between social anxiety and children’s hope levels. The results of the present study emphasized the effects of social support on children; it had a positive effect on hope levels and a negative effect on social anxiety. Based on these results, it is recommended that the social support of children is increased via psycho-education programs for parents, caregivers, and teachers. It is further recommended that social-support-seeking behavior programs are developed in educational and mental health settings.     

The Great Black Hope: Hope and Its Relation to Suicide Risk among African Americans

Positive psychology has garnered considerable scholarly interest recently and has been suggested to hold promise in the application to suicide research and prevention; however, empirical research has lagged behind these suggestions. This is the first study to examine the relationship between hope and a specific theory of suicide in African Americans. It was hypothesized that (1) hope would negatively predict the interpersonal suicide risk factors of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness; and positively predict acquired capability to enact suicide; (2) hope would negatively predict suicidal ideation; and (3) the interpersonal suicide risk factors would predict suicidal ideation. Results were primarily as predicted. Implications for hope theory and Joiner's theory of suicidal behavior are discussed, as well as implications for clinical practice.     

The glass half-full or a hopeful outlook: Which explains more variance in interpersonal suicide risk in a psychotherapy clinic sample?

Recent research has suggested that constructs in the field of positive psychology may be important for understanding suicide risk. Specifically, both hope theory and dispositional optimism have been linked to lower levels of suicidal ideation and interpersonal suicide risk. Despite these encouraging findings, no study has investigated the relationships between hope, optimism, and suicide risk in a clinical sample. The current study aimed to address this gap and to determine if hope or optimism was more important for understanding suicide risk as operationalized by the interpersonal-psychological theory and suicidal ideation. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that both hope and optimism predicted lower levels of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, but were not significant predictors of suicidal ideation. Further, results revealed that when both hope and optimism were entered into a hierarchical regression in the final step, only optimism remained significant. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Psychosis and functioning as risk factors for later suicidal activity among schizophrenia and schizoaffective patients: a disease-based interactive model.

The present research explores the relationship of positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and posthospital functioning to subsequent suicidal behavior over a 7 1/2-year period, and examines whether these patterns vary with diagnosis. The results support a multifactor model of suicide risk. Both psychosis and poor functioning show some relationship to later suicidal activity for both schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients. Psychosis may remain a risk factor for suicidal activity for schizoaffective patients, even when functioning is partialed out. This is in contrast to the schizophrenia patients, for whom funtioning seems to mediate the effects of psychosis on later suicidality. In general, adequacy of overall posthospital functioning mediates the effects of some risk factors on suicidal activity within different diagnostic groups.     

父母严苛型教养方式与青少年自杀倾向:一个有调节的中介模型

在对西安市四所中学4071名中学生进行问卷调查的基础上,实证研究了父母严苛型教养方式与青少年自杀倾向之间的关系。结果表明:(1)从直接效应上讲,父母严苛型教养方式和个体自身对自杀行为的合理化认知对青少年自杀倾向具有显著的正向预测作用;(2)青少年对自杀行为的合理化认知在父母严苛型教养方式和自杀倾向的相关关系中起部分中介作用;(3)在严苛型教养方式通过自杀行为合理化认知影响自杀倾向的模型中,同伴支持变量不存在显著的调节作用,而教师支持变量在这一模型的直接路径与中介模型后半段均起调节作用。     

Hope as a Predictor of Interpersonal Suicide Risk

The current study hypothesized that (1) hope would negatively predict burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and acquired capability to enact lethal injury; (2) hope would negatively predict suicidal ideation; and (3) the interpersonal suicide risk factors would predict suicidal ideation. Results indicated that hope negatively predicted burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, but positively predicted acquired capability to enact suicide. Contrary to our second hypothesis, hope did not predict suicidal ideation, but interpersonal risk factors for suicide predicted suicidal ideation. Results are discussed in terms of implications for hope theory and Joiner's (2005) interpersonal risk factors for suicide, and for clinical practice.     

Optimists or optimistic: Replication of a taxometric study on optimism

Hope and optimism are variants of individual differences regarding positive expectancies for the future. Previous literature describes the relationship of hope and optimism to various outcomes such as psychological adjustment, achievement, problem solving, and health-related concerns; however, few studies investigate its latent structure. Eichner, Kwon, and Marcus (2014) explore optimism’s latent structure through taxometric procedures and provide support for a dimensional construct. In light of recent debate over the replicability of scientific findings, the present study aimed to replicate these findings in an independent sample. Taxometric analyses are consistent with the original study, providing further support for the dimensional latent structure of optimism.     

Rumination and suicidal ideation: The moderating roles of hope and optimism

The current study aimed to investigate whether the correlation between rumination and suicidal ideation is moderated by the presence of hope and optimism. It was hypothesized that both hope and optimism would moderate (weaken) the relationship between rumination and suicidal ideation. Two hundred and ninety-eight participants completed self-report measures of hope, optimism, rumination (brooding and reflection), and depression. Results demonstrated that both hope and optimism weakened the relationship between rumination and suicidal ideation, as well as the relationships between both subscales of rumination and suicidal thinking. These results were found when controlling for symptoms of depression. Results suggest that a ruminative thinking style may be most harmful when an absence of hope or optimism is also present.     

Suicidal Ideation of Psychiatrically Hospitalized Adolescents has One-Year Predictive Validity for Suicide Attempts in Girls Only

Clinicians commonly incorporate adolescents’ self-reported suicidal ideation into formulations regarding adolescents’ risk for suicide. Data are limited, however, regarding the extent to which adolescent boys’ and girls’ reports of suicidal ideation have clinically significant predictive validity in terms of subsequent suicidal behavior. This study examined psychiatrically hospitalized adolescent boys’ and girls’ self-reported suicidal ideation as a predictor of suicide attempts during the first year following hospitalization. A total of 354 adolescents (97 boys; 257 girls; ages 13–17 years) hospitalized for acute suicide risk were evaluated at the time of hospitalization as well as 3, 6, and 12 months later. Study measures included the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire-Junior, Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Youth Self-Report, and Personal Experiences Screen Questionnaire. The main study outcome was presence and number of suicide attempt(s) in the year after hospitalization, measured by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children. Results indicated a significant interaction between suicidal ideation, assessed during first week of hospitalization, and gender for the prediction of subsequent suicide attempts. Suicidal ideation was a significant predictor of subsequent suicide attempts for girls, but not boys. Baseline history of multiple suicide attempts was a significant predictor of subsequent suicide attempts across genders. Results support the importance of empirically validating suicide risk assessment strategies separately for adolescent boys and girls. Among adolescent boys who have been hospitalized due to acute suicide risk, low levels of self-reported suicidal ideation may not be indicative of low risk for suicidal behavior following hospitalization.     

Toward a Sociocultural Perspective on Means of Self-Destruction*

ABSTRACT: The relationship between an individual's intent to die and choice of method is examined. A sociocultural perspective is developed in an attempt to: explain the principle differences in choice of method by sex; to explain regional variations over time, by sex; and to differentiate between regional and/or cultural areas in their use of firearms as a means of self-destruction. The concept of availability is examined, and it is shown that it consists of, at least, two dimensions: the physical presence of a method, and the sociocultural acceptability of that method that results in the individual's selection of a particular method of self-destruction from a range of socially and culturally acceptable means of suicide. A concept of suicidal threshold is advanced as suggestive of a suicidal level that an individual must reach before a suicidal process develops and results in the person's self-inflicted death.     

The First Twenty Years of the Will and the Ways: An Examination of Score Reliability Distribution on Snyder’s Dispositional Hope Scale

C. R. Snyder has established hope theory as an important contributor to positive psychology. As the empirical evidence continues to grow, hope researchers need to have confidence that their measures will produce reliable scores. This study presents a reliability generalization on both the internal consistency and test–retest reliability estimates from Snyder’s dispositional hope scale. While over 300 published works were found to have cited the target article 74 present internal consistency scores and 17 reported scores for test–retest reliability. The results of the reliability generalization suggest support for the score reliabilities produced by the dispositional hope scale. However, internal consistency was higher for studies using the eight-item response format (α = 0.82) compared to those using the four-item response format (α = 0.77). Additionally, the test–retest score reliability was high 0.80 with no statistically significant differences by response format. Findings also demonstrated that score reliability estimates were not significantly influenced by the coded sample characteristics.     

The savings problem in the original position: assessing and revising a model

Abstract

The common conception of justice as reciprocity seemingly is inapplicable to relations between non-overlapping generations. This is a challenge also to John Rawls’s theory of justice as fairness. This text responds to this by way of reinterpreting and developing Rawls’s theory. First, by examining the original position as a model, some revisions of it are shown to be wanting. Second, by drawing on the methodology of constructivism, an alternative solution is proposed: an amendment to the primary goods named ‘sustainability of values’. This revised original position lends support to intergenerational justice as fairness.     

A Group Journey—to Hell and Back

The process of a therapy group in an inpatient daycare unit¹ became saturated with anger and detachment, ultimately leading to a despairing silence. Based on Ferenczi’s concept of Orpha, I will explain the group silence as indicative of deep trauma and dissociative self-states. I propose that the therapist’s willingness to “hang in” with his group and be part of a seemingly unbearable enactment enhances the possibility for emergence of hope and restoration of positive communication. It is rare in the literature for authors to expose the pitfalls that they and their group members can fall into, leading to despair, shame, and hopelessness. When working in the complex environment of a mental hospital where every level of staff is stressed, therapists often find themselves without support and consultation. My hope is that my colleagues can learn from my challenges, errors, and lessons, as I have.     

Couples’ Experiences of Hope When Participating in the Reflecting Team Process: A Case Study

Hope is believed to be influential to therapeutic change. However, no studies have explored couples’ experiences of hope during participation in a reflecting team process. This exploratory case study attends to this gap in the research literature. Three couples reported on their experiences of hope in relation to participating in the reflecting team process as part of their couple therapy. Themes related to hope were identified during three separate stages of the intervention: anticipating, participating in, and debriefing the reflecting team process. Reflecting team experiences related to hope included: seeking new perspectives, maintaining a positive momentum, identifying strengths, normalizing difficulties, presenting inspiring possibilities, providing support, highlighting growth, and strengthening resolve. These findings serve as a foundation for attending to clients’ hope as an active force during the reflecting team process.     

Giving hope a sporting chance: Hope as distinct from optimism when events are possible but not probable

Popular hope theories treat hope as an expectancy-based construct, with individuals more hopeful the greater their perceived likelihood of success. Consequently, the distinction between hope and other expectancy-based concepts (e.g., optimism) is unclear. The present research aims to identify the unique nature of hope, suggesting hope is invoked in particular when expectations of positive outcomes are low. As long as there is a possibility of those outcomes eventuating, individuals highly invested in them are more likely to hope; but with greater probability hope tends to align with optimism. In Study 1, for supporters of bottom-tier football teams strongly invested in the hoped-for outcome of their team winning, hope’s relationship with likelihood was cubic, accelerating with mere possibility; contrastingly, for optimism the relationship was linear. Study 2 replicated these findings for voters’ hope in state election outcomes. Hope is distinct from optimism and positive expectation; hope is tapped into when odds are low yet individuals are highly invested in the outcome.     

Is There a Relationship between Suicidal Intent and Lethality in Deliberate Self‐Poisoning?

The relationship between suicidal intent and lethality of deliberate self‐poisoning (DSP) episodes and their associations with suicide have yielded contradictory findings. The aims of this study were to investigate the association between patients’ suicidal intent and independently rated lethality of DSP episodes, and whether the association changes over time. Eighty‐nine DSP patients were investigated longitudinally. Self‐reported suicidal intent, including perceived likelihood of dying, wish to die, and whether or not the DSP was considered a suicide attempt, was measured at the time of the index episode (t1), 3 months (t2), and 12 months (t3) later. Lethality was assessed independently by three clinical toxicologists. Lethality was significantly associated with patients’ reported wish to die (p = .01) and perceived likelihood of dying (p = .04) at t1, but not at t2 and t3. No association was found between whether the episode was considered a suicide attempt or not and lethality at t1, t2, or t3. Lethality and suicidal intent should be considered as largely separate dimensions of self‐harm. Clinicians should bear this in mind during clinical assessment, especially regarding historical information.     

A History of Physician Suicide in America

Over the course of the last century, physicians have written a number of articles about suicide among their own. These articles reveal how physicians have fundamentally conceived of themselves, how they have addressed vulnerability among their own, and how their self-identification has changed over time, due, in part, to larger historical changes in the profession, psychiatry, and suicidology. The suicidal physician of the Golden Age (1900–1970), an expendable deviant, represents the antithesis of that era’s image of strength and invincibility. In contrast, the suicidal physician of the modern era (1970 onwards), a vulnerable human being deserving of support, reflects that era’s frustration with bearing these unattainable ideals and its growing emphasis on physician health and well-being. Despite this key transition, specifically the acknowledgment of physicians’ limitations, more recent articles about physician suicide indicate that Golden Age values have endured. These persistent emphases on perfection and discomfort with vulnerability have hindered a comprehensive consideration of physician suicide, despite one hundred years of dialogue in the medical literature.     

Neuromythology of Einstein’s brain

The idea that the brain of the great physicist Albert Einstein is different from “average” brains in both cellular structure and external shape is widespread. This belief is based on several studies examining Einstein’s brain both histologically and morphologically. This paper reviews these studies and finds them wanting. Their results do not, in fact, provide support for the claim that the structure of Einstein’s brain reflects his intellectual abilities.     

We were Chosen as a Family: Parents’ Evolving Use of Religion when Their Child has Cystic Fibrosis

Parental coping with new CF diagnoses often includes religion; however, little is known about how the use of religion changes over time. Longitudinal grounded theory method, in which parents were interviewed twice the 2 years after their child’s diagnosis, was used. Parents constructed the meaning that parenting a child with CF is their vocation, in accordance with “God’s plan.” A shift from isolation to an outward focus and reentry into the community was clear. The use of faith evolved over time and continues to be a source of support and hope for parents. Clinical implications of parental religion are discussed.