Spiritual Well-Being Among HIV-Infected Adolescents and Their Families

Congruence in spirituality between HIV+ adolescent (n = 40)/family (n = 40) dyads and psychological adjustment and quality of life were assessed, using the Spiritual Well-Being Scale of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory at baseline and 3-month post-intervention. Adolescents were 60 % female and 92 % African American. Congruence in spirituality between adolescent/surrogate dyads remained unchanged at 3 months. High congruence existed for “having a reason for living”; rejection of “life lacks meaning/purpose” and “HIV is a punishment from God.” Adolescents were less likely to forgive the harm others caused them than their families.     

Appraisal of suicidal risk among adolescents and young adults through the Rorschach test

The aims of this study are to investigate suicidal behaviors among adolescents and young adults and to test an index composed using Rorschach test responses related to an increased risk of suicide. Using a cross-sectional design, 4 groups were studied (according to criteria of the Columbia Classification Algorithm of Suicide Assessment [Posner, Oquendo, Gould, Stanley, & Davies, 2007]): A group with suicidal ideation (n = 30), a group with parasuicidal behavior (n = 30), a group with near-lethal suicide attempts (n = 26), and a control group (n = 30). Responses to the Rorschach test yielded 6 potential indicators of suicidal behavior (scored according to Exner's Comprehensive System and the Suicidal Index for Adolescents; Silberg & Armstrong, 1992 ). Rorschach scores including at least 4 of these 6 indicators selected 69% of the people who had committed serious suicide attempts. The Rorschach Suicidal Index reached an acceptable reliability and was related to other criteria of suicide risk, such as the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelsohn, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) and Linehan Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL-I; Linehan, Goodstein, Nielsen, & Chiles, 1983). Moreover, the Rorschach Suicidal Index showed incremental validity over the BDI and the RFL-I to predict suicidal behavior. A path analysis additionally showed that low social support was an important mediator between the Rorschach Suicidal Index and the number of suicide attempts committed by participants.     

Psychometric properties of the Driving Behaviour Scale (DBS) among polish drivers

Anxiety can negatively affect an individual’s psychological wellbeing and lead to mild-to-moderate functional impairment in various areas of their lives. Despite this, the relationship between anxiety and driving performance has received very little empirical attention. The Driving Behaviour Scale (Clapp, Olsen, Beck, et al., 2011, Clapp, Olsen, Danoff-Burg, et al., 2011) was developed as a measure of anxious driving behaviours to support research in this area. The current study details adaptation and validation of the Driving Behaviour Scale (DBS; Clapp, Olsen, Beck, et al., 2011, Clapp, Olsen, Danoff-Burg, et al., 2011) in 310 university students in Poland. The overall internal consistency for the DBS was 0.76, while the two subscales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (safety/cautious = 0.75 and hostile/aggressive behaviours = 0.85). The reliability estimates for performance deficit returned a lower coefficient of 0.65. Factor analysis produced a three-factor solution that supported the original structure of the DBS. The DBS may be utilised as a measure of driving anxiety in samples drawn from the general population.     

Sociotropy and autonomy: the nature of vulnerability

Sociotropy and autonomy are 2 personality dimensions related to an individual's vulnerability to depression (A. T. Beck, 1983). The Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (D. A. Clark, R. A. Steer, A. T. Beck, & L. Ross, 1995) and the Personal Style Inventory (C. J. Robins et al., 1994) were developed to assess these personality dimensions independent of each other. The present study is an examination of the relationship between the 2 scales and an attempt to specify the various factors that emerge when the items of the 2 scales are integrated. Participants (N = 514) responded to the Personal Style Inventory, the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck & R. A. Steer, 1987). A principal component analysis on all of the items of the 2 scales revealed a four-factor structure (2 sociotropy and 2 autonomy). The author examined the relationships between depression, the 4 factors, and the 2 original scales and discussed the results in the context of vulnerability to depression.     

Common and specific dimensions of self-reported anxiety and depression: the BDI-II versus the BDI-IA

The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) [Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A. & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.] and Anxiety Inventory (BAI) [Beck, A. T. & Steer, R. A. (1993a). Manual for the Beck Anxiety Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.] were administered to 840 outpatients who were diagnosed with various types of psychiatric disorders to determine whether the general symptom compositions and relative amounts of variance of the common and specific dimensions of self-reported anxiety and depression for these instruments would be comparable to those that had been found by Steer et al. [Steer, R. A., Clark, D. A., Beck, A. T. & Ranieri, W. F. (1995). Common and specific dimensions of self-reported anxiety and depression: A replication. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 542–545.] with the BAI and amended Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-IA) [Beck, A. T. & Steer, R. A. (1993b). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.]. A Schmid–Leiman transformation was used with the iterated-principal-factor pattern matrix of the BAI and the BDI-II loadings and indicated that the overall symptom compositions and relative amounts of variance that were explained by the one common and two specific anxiety and depression dimensions were comparable to those previously found with the BDI-IA.     

Correlates of suicidal ideation among rural adolescents

This study examined potential predictors of suicidal ideation among a nonclinical, rural adolescent population. A sample of 76 male and female adolescents enrolled in a rural public high school completed a personal information form, a suicide information questionnaire, short forms of the Beck Depression Inventory and the Family Environment Scale, and the Life Events Checklist. A stepwise multiple regression suggested significant predictive relationships between magnitude of suicidal ideation and measures of family social climate (i.e., Organization, Conflict, Expressiveness, and Independence subscales from the Family Environment Scale--Short Form). Multivariate analyses of variance and a discriminant-function analysis revealed no significant sex differences.     

Naturally occurring mood and learning: comment on Hasher, Rose, Zacks, Sanft, and Doren

We comment on the article by Hasher, Rose, Zacks, Sanft, & Doren (1985) in which they failed to find mood-congruent learning (MCL). MCL occurs whenever subjects learn more about materials that are congruent with their moods (e.g., depressed subjects learn more sad material). Hasher et al. failed to observe MCL with normal college students who scored high versus low on the Beck Depression Inventory and an affect checklist; in contrast, positive MCL has been observed with clinically depressed patients and with normals given laboratory mood inductions. Hasher et al. argue that moderately depressed normal students may be qualitatively different from clinically depressed patients and mood-induced subjects. Although we accept the findings of Hasher et al., we think it is also plausible that MCL may be a general though small effect which is present among normal college students as well.     

Vulnerability factors in depression: The facets of sociotropy and autonomy

Sociotropy-autonomy (Beck, 1983) describes a set of personality dimensions that relate to an individual's vulnerability to depression. Two recently developed scales, the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (Clark & Beck, 1991) and the Personal Style Inventory (Robinset al., 1994), have been developed in order to assess these personality dimensions. Typically, these measures are used in isolation and little published information is available concerning their interrelationship. The present study examined the relationship between the two scales and specified the various factors that emerge when the items of the two scales are integrated. Six hundred fifty-two participants responded to the Personal Style Inventory (Robinset al, 1994) and the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (Clark & Beck, 1991). A factor analysis on all of the items of the two scales revealed a five-factor structure (two sociotropy, two autonomy, and one achievement factor). The relationships among depression, the five derived factors, and the original scales developed by Clark and Beck (1991) and Robinset al. (1994) were critically examined. The results are discussed in the context of vulnerability to depression.     

Family-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Suicidal Adolescents and Their Integration With Individual Treatment

A considerable research base underscores the importance of family functioning in the risk for and treatment of adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This paper reviews the extant empirical literature documenting associations between features of the family context and adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. A case example is provided to illustrate how family factors may guide case conceptualization and treatment planning for suicidal adolescents. In light of the growing support for treatment approaches predicated on the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the paper focuses on many of the common family treatment elements, notably interventions with parents across treatment studies with adolescent suicidal populations. A specific treatment known as CBT for Suicide Prevention (CBT-SP; Stanley et al., 2009) serves as an exemplar for how interventions with parents may be applied in the context of an integrated intervention for teen suicide. The paper reviews issues salient to the implementation of key components of treatment with parents and addresses specific treatment considerations and challenges.     

青年学生自信问卷的编制

自信是指对自己的信任,对自己身体、心理和社会性的信任,表现为有信心,不怀疑。为了编制青年学生自信问卷,首先采用开放式问卷对130名大学生和高中学生进行了调查,内容分析表明青年学生自信包含五类行为,在此基础上编制了青年学生自信预试问卷。391份有效问卷的探索性因素分析表明,青年学生自信问卷测查的是个五因素结构,包括才智自信、人际自信、品质自信、应对自信和成就自信。为了进一步检验青年学生自信问卷的构想效度,并考察其效标效度,1084名青年学生完成了该问卷和五项效标的测查。验证性因素分析支持青年学生自信问卷的结构,结合信度分析和多元回归分析的结果,表明青年学生自信问卷具有较好的信度与效度。     

校园氛围与青少年问题行为的关系:同伴侵害的中介作用

许多研究表明,青少年感知的校园氛围对其问题行为有重要影响。但是,校园氛围起作用的中介机制仍有待进一步探讨。本研究旨在考察青少年感知的校园氛围与其问题行为(行为不良、抑郁)的关系,以及同伴侵害在其中的中介作用。采用分层整群抽样的方法,选取广东省10所学校2758名初中生作为被试,匿名填写社会经济地位问卷、家庭功能问卷、校园氛围感知问卷、青少年同伴侵害问卷、儿童抑郁调查表、青少年行为不良指数问卷。结果表明:(1)在控制了性别、年龄、社会经济地位和家庭功能后,积极的校园氛围显著负向预测青少年的行为不良和抑郁。(2)同伴侵害在校园氛围与青少年行为不良和抑郁之间具有中介作用。     

Further validation of the IDAS: evidence of convergent, discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity

The authors explicated the validity of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS; D. Watson et al., 2007) in 2 samples (306 college students and 605 psychiatric patients). The IDAS scales showed strong convergent validity in relation to parallel interview-based scores on the Clinician Rating version of the IDAS; the mean convergent correlations were .51 and .62 in the student and patient samples, respectively. With the exception of the Well-Being Scale, the scales also consistently demonstrated significant discriminant validity. Furthermore, the scales displayed substantial criterion validity in relation to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) mood and anxiety disorder diagnoses in the patient sample. The authors identified particularly clear and strong associations between (a) major depression and the IDAS General Depression, Dysphoria and Well-Being scales, (b) panic disorder and IDAS Panic, (c) posttraumatic stress disorder and IDAS Traumatic Intrusions, and (d) social phobia and IDAS Social Anxiety. Finally, in logistic regression analyses, the IDAS scales showed significant incremental validity in predicting several DSM-IV diagnoses when compared against the Beck Depression Inventory-II (A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (A. T. Beck & R. A. Steer, 1990).     

Fewer reasons for staying alive when you are thinking of killing yourself: The brief reasons for living inventory

The Linehan Reasons for Living Inventory is a 48-item scale on which respondents rate how important each item would be for living if suicide were contemplated. The inventory possesses good psychometric properties and can distinguish suicidal from nonsuicidal people among shoppers, psychiatric inpatients, college students, and adolescents. As its length limits its utility in many institutional and screening settings, the purpose of this study was (1) to develop a brief form of the Reasons for Living Inventory appropriate for clinical use and (2) to examine the predictive validity of this brief measure, named the Brief Reasons for Living Inventory (BRFL), to distinguish suicidal from nonsuicidal prison inmates. Results indicate that the brief form was as good as either the Beck Depression Inventory or the Beck Hopelessness Scale at predicting suicidality in this population. Further study is needed to validate the BRFL with different institutionalized and other populations as well as to assess its ability to discriminate suicide ideators from those engaging in overt suicidal behavior.Support for this project was provided in part by the New York State Office of Mental Health Bureau of Forensic Services and the New York State Department of Correctional Services.     

Resilience and suicide ideation: Coping mediator-moderator effects among adolescent learners

The current study aimed to investigate the influence of coping on the relationship between resilience and adolescent suicide ideation among secondary learners in the Free State Province, South Africa (n = 495; female = 61.6%; black = 55%, white = 27%, other = 18%; mean age = 13.99 years; SD = 0.83 years). The learners completed the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ), the Revised Coping Schema Inventory (RCSI), and the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict resilience-mediated suicide ideation from coping. Results suggested higher resilience scores on sense of mastery (SoM) and sense of relatedness (SoR) to predict lower suicide ideation risk among the teenagers. By contrast, higher scores on emotional reactivity (ER) predicted higher risk for suicide ideation. Religious coping (RC) moderated the relationship between resilience (sense of relatedness) and suicide ideation so that RC scores with SoM were associated with lower suicide ideation scores. Personal dispositions seem to explain risk for suicide ideation among adolescents.     

Convergent validity of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2: preliminary findings with a normative sample

We examined the convergent validity of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI; Cheung, Leung, et al., 1996), an indigenously constructed measure, by comparing its patterns of correlations with the MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001). A valid sample of 147 Chinese students took both the CPAI and the MMPI-2. Results provide preliminary support for the convergence between most of the CPAI clinical scales and the relevant MMPI-2 scales. The CPAI personality scales further illustrated the patterns of personality features associated with the MMPI-2 scales in a Chinese cultural context. We discuss discrepancies in the correspondence between a number of CPAI and MMPI-2 clinical scales.     

Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory for Youth in a sample of girls

A new measure has been developed to assess depressive symptoms, the Beck Depression Inventory for Youth (BDI-Y; J. S. Beck, A. T. Beck, & J. B. Jolly, 2001). This research extends previous validation research of BDI-Y total scores by examining internal consistency and convergent and predictive validity within a school-based sample (n=859) of girls 9-13 years old by age level and for selected races or ethnic groups. Scores had high internal consistency, and there was support for using the BDI-Y to assess depressive symptoms. Reliability was slightly lower for 9-year-olds, but reliability and validity estimates did not differ by race or ethnic group. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis results provide some support for unidimensionality of scores but also point toward possible refinements.     

Post-Admission Cognitive Therapy: A Brief Intervention for Psychiatric Inpatients Admitted After a Suicide Attempt

To date, no empirically based inpatient intervention for individuals who have attempted suicide exists. We present an overview of a novel psychotherapeutic approach, Post-Admission Cognitive Therapy (PACT), currently under development and empirical testing for inpatients who have been admitted for a recent suicide attempt. PACT is adapted from an efficacious and brief outpatient cognitive therapy protocol (Brown, Henriques, Ratto, & Beck, 2002; Brown et al., 2005) for inpatient delivery to individuals with recent suicide attempts. Within a cognitive framework, attempting suicide is conceptualized as a maladaptive coping strategy that deserves immediate targeted clinical attention regardless of the patient's diagnosis. The primary aims of PACT are to reduce the likelihood of suicide attempt recurrence as well as decrease the severity of established psychological risk factors for suicide. The three phases of PACT involve (1) building a therapeutic alliance and developing a cognitive conceptualization based on the recent suicide attempt; (2) instilling hope, practicing effective coping strategies, and addressing problem-solving deficits; and (3) preventing relapse, constructing a safety plan, and promoting timely linkage with outpatient aftercare services. The efficacy of PACT as a targeted inpatient treatment package remains to be established. The cognitive behavioral components of PACT, as described here, are based on evidence-informed practices aimed at improving the quality of care provided to inpatients following a suicide attempt.     

Lesbian,gay, and bisexual suicidal behavior: testing a constructivist model

The present investigation surveyed 162 self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals recruited from LGB-related social organizations or contacted through networking procedures with regard to suicidal behaviors, suicide risk factors, and reasons for living. Approximately 41% of the respondents indicated a serious consideration of suicide including the identification of a specific suicide plan (23%) or a past suicide attempt (36%) with significant intent to die (13%). Forty-six percent of the sample indicated at least some degree of chance of attempting suicide in the future. Grounded in the existential-constructivist theory of suicide (Rogers, 2001), empirically and theoretically identified suicide risk factors were found as a group to predict suicidal ideation (R2 = .16) and attempts (R2 = .17), with abuse-related items independently predicting both suicidal ideation (R2 = .03) and attempts (R2 = .08). Items related to self-identity issues and social acceptance were predictive of suicidal ideation (R2 = .04), while substance abuse was predictive of suicidal ideation (R2 = .05) and attempts (R2 = .13) for males only. The established factor structure of the Reasons for Living Inventory (Linehan et al., 1983) was not supported in the current data, suggesting that it may not be an appropriate measure of reasons for living with LGB individuals.     

The Temporal Dynamics of Wish to Live,Wish to Die,and Their Short-Term Prospective Relationships With Suicidal Desire

The internal debate hypothesis (Kovacs & Beck, 1977) suggests that those at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors may experience fluctuations in both the wish to live (WTL) and wish to die (WTD). Previous research has investigated this hypothesis using various cross-sectional (Goods et al., 2019 [cf. Page & Stritzke, 2020]) and longitudinal methodologies (e.g., Bryan et al., 2016). No investigations have determined the within-day temporal dynamics of WTL and WTD using ecological moment assessment (EMA), however. N = 49 undergraduate university students recruited from a research participant pool from a large southeastern university in the United States with a lifetime history of suicide ideation completed the current 10-day EMA investigation. Results demonstrated that WTL, WTD, and resulting suicidal ambivalence (i.e., relatively equal WTL/WTD ratings) demonstrated similar within-person person variability; however, WTD scores appeared to demonstrate higher average variability compared to WTL and ambivalence scores. Although state WTL and WTD were concurrently related to state suicidal desire, only WTD prospectively predicted suicidal desire when controlling for the influence of the outcome variable at the previous timepoint. Ambivalence scores also prospectively predicted suicidal desire when controlling for suicidal desire at the previous timepoint. Results support the clinical and theoretical utility of separate WTL and WTD assessment. WTD was relatively stable within this sample but may be closely related to risk for future suicidal thinking. Changes in WTL may reduce state risk for suicidal desire but could be more trait-like in nature compared to WTD. Future research that investigates these hypotheses should consider the study limitations outlined.     

Depressed Clients' Attributions of Responsibility for the Causes of and Solutions to Their Problems

This study examined the attributions made by depressed clients about responsibility for the causes of and solutions to their problems. A total of 160 university counseling center clients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck & R. A. Steer, 1987) and instruments measuring attributions of responsibility, internality, stability, and controllability for their problems. Support was obtained for the hypothesis that depressed clients blame themselves more for causing their problems than do nondepressed clients. However, client attributions of responsibility for solving problems were not affected by level of depressive symptoms. Finally, P. Brickman et al.'s (1982) theory of responsibility attributions was found to be modestly related with B. Weiner's (1985) attribution theory.