Suicide Ideation and Creative Problem Solving

This investigation utilized the recent technology for the assessment of creativity to examine the association between problem solving and suicide ideation. Three kinds of problem-finding and -solving tasks were administered to 81 (nonclinical) college students. One of these tasks assesses “problem generation” and was expected to be particularly informative, given that individuals considering suicide may perceive many problems but find few solutions. Results supported this expectation: Problem generation scores were significantly correlated with suicide ideation, even after stress was statistically controlled. A secondary analysis suggested that the originality and flexibility of solutions may be influenced by the particular problem an individual faces.     

Perfectionism and Suicide Ideation in Adolescent Psychiatric Patients

This study was conducted to examine the relations between dimensions of perfectionism and suicide ideation in an adolescent psychiatric sample. A sample of 66 adolescents from an inpatient psychiatric facility completed the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale, the Child's Hopelessness Scale, and the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire. Overall, the results indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with greater suicide ideation and that it, along with hopelessness, accounted for unique variance in suicide ideation scores. The findings are discussed in terms of their practical and theoretical significance as well as their consistency with similar research with adults.     

Risk Factors Proximate to Suicide and Suicide Risk Assessment in the Context of Denied Suicide Ideation

Health care providers have significant opportunities to identify individuals at near‐term risk for suicide, but lack empirical data on near‐term risk factors. This study aimed to identify dynamic, state‐related risk factors observed by clinical practitioners within the last 30 days of life of 157 patients who died by suicide and to compare these near‐term risk factors among patients who denied versus responded positively to having suicide ideation (SI ) when last asked by a clinical practitioner prior to their death. Risk factors charted for the majority of all decedents were a history of prior suicide ideation and/or suicide attempt, current anxiety/agitation and sleep problems, current interpersonal problems or job/financial strain, current comorbid diagnoses, current social isolation/withdrawal, and a family history of mental disorder. Two‐thirds of patients denied having SI when last asked and one‐half of these patients were dead by suicide within 2 days. Decedents who denied having SI were quite similar in charted diagnoses, symptoms, behaviors, and environmental circumstances to decedents who responded affirmatively to having SI . Reliance on verbalized or reported SI as a gateway to a suicide risk assessment is questioned and the need for better understanding near‐term risk for suicide, particularly in the absence of stated SI , is highlighted.     

有自杀意念大学生的内隐态度探析

该文结合Greenwald开创的内隐联想测验,自编IAT程序,对有自杀意念大学生的内隐态度进行了相关研究。结果显示,有自杀意念大学生较无自杀意念大学生的内隐态度对自杀类词语敏感等。家庭所在地为农村对有自杀意念大学生的内隐态度有显著性影响。     

新生代员工自杀意念的产生机理

新生代员工的自杀意念正在引起研究者的关注.本研究立足于职业健康心理学和积极心理学视野,汲取自我决定理论和生命意义理论的思想精髓以构建“动机-生命意义”模型,系统考察社会、组织和个体因素对自杀意念的综合影响,对揭示无精神疾患员工自杀意念产生的影响机制和心理动力机制、促进研究范式从病理取向转向积极取向具有重要的理论价值;此外,还有望开发出一套“社会-组织情境→动机→生命意义”干预方案,引导企业与政府反思其现有管理体系,帮助管理者审视其管理哲学并改善其管理行为,针对尚无自杀意念或意念处于萌芽期的员工,多层次、多途径构建员工自杀的一级防控体系和心理援助机制,促进员工与企业、社会的整体和谐发展.     

Suicide Risk Assessment and Risk Formulation Part I: A Focus on Suicide Ideation in Assessing Suicide Risk

The main procedure used by clinicians to determine whether an individual may be at risk of suicidal behaviors is the suicide risk assessment (SRA). The purpose of the SRA is to identify risk and protective factors that then provide the data for the formulation of suicide risk. The suicide risk formulation (SRF) assigns a level of suicide risk that ideally leads to triage and treatment deemed appropriate for that level of risk. Some of the problems with the SRA are explored here, with an emphasis on addressing the over reliance on communicated suicide ideation, and recommendations are made for improvements. Part II of this article (Berman & Silverman, 2013, also appears in this issue of STLB) examines the process of an SRF and, similarly, makes recommendations to improve clinical practice toward the desired end of saving lives.     

Self‐Esteem and Suicide Ideation in Psychiatric Outpatients

Depression, hopelessness, and low self‐esteem are implicated as vulnerability factors for suicide ideation. The association of self‐esteem with suicide ideation after controlling for depressed mood and hopelessness was examined. Adult psychiatric outpatients (N = 338) completed measures of self‐esteem, suicide ideation, hopelessness, and depression. Self‐esteem was operationalized as beliefs about oneself (self‐based self‐esteem) and beliefs about how other people regard oneself (other‐based self‐esteem). Each dimension of self‐esteem was negatively associated with suicide ideation after controlling for depression and hopelessness. Of the two dimensions of self‐esteem, other‐based self‐esteem was the more robust predictor of suicide ideation. These findings suggest that even in the context of depression and hopelessness, low self‐esteem may add to the risk for suicide ideation.     

Suicide Ideation and Acceptability Toward Online Help‐Seeking

Suicidal individuals are unlikely to engage in face‐to‐face treatment. The Internet is emerging as an innovative approach for intervention delivery, particularly for those unable or unwilling to attend traditional treatment. Participants (N  = 459) were recruited to fill out online questionnaires on suicide ideation and help‐seeking modality preference. The majority of participants endorsed preferring face‐to‐face help over web‐based help. Results from multinominal logistic regression indicated that suicide ideation was significantly related to preferring online methods versus face‐to‐face methods. This study highlights that the Internet can provide a novel platform to treat individuals at risk of suicide.     

Dimensions of Religion Associated with Suicide Attempt and Suicide Ideation in Depressed,Religiously Affiliated Patients

There is substantial evidence to support the claim that religion can protect against suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and completed suicide. There is also evidence that religion does not always protect against suicidality. More insight is needed into the relationship between suicidal parameters and dimensions of religion. A total of 155 in‐ and outpatients with major depression from a Christian Mental Health Care institution were included. The following religious factors were assessed: religious service attendance, frequency of prayer, religious salience, type of God representation, and moral objections to suicide (MOS). Multiple regression analyses were computed. MOS have a unique and prominent (negative) association with suicide ideation and the lifetime history of suicide attempts, even after controlling for demographic features and severity of depression. The type of God representation is an independent statistical predictor of the severity of suicide ideation. A positive‐supportive God representation is negatively correlated with suicide ideation. A passive‐distressing God representation has a positive correlation with suicide ideation. High MOS and a positive‐supportive God representation in Christian patients with depression are negatively correlated with suicide ideation. Both are likely to be important markers for assessment and further development of therapeutic strategies.     

Medically Documented Suicide Ideation Among U.S. Army Soldiers

We used administrative data to examine predictors of medically documented suicide ideation (SI) among Regular Army soldiers from 2006 through 2009 (N = 10,466 ideators, 124,959 control person‐months). Enlisted ideators (97.8% of all cases) were more likely than controls to be female, younger, older when entering service, less educated, never or previously deployed, and have a recent mental health diagnosis. Officer ideators were more likely than controls to be female, younger, younger when entering service, never married, and have a recent mental health diagnosis. Risk among enlisted soldiers peaked in the second month of service and declined steadily, whereas risk among officers remained relatively stable over time. Risk of SI is highest among enlisted soldiers early in Army service, females, and those with a recent mental health diagnosis.     

Clarifying the Relationship of Parental Bonding to Suicide Ideation and Attempts

Suicide and suicidal behavior are major public health problems, especially among adolescents and young adults. Previous research has established links between parental bonding and suicidality; however, it remains unclear whether parental bonding is associated with suicide ideation, the progression from suicide ideation to suicide attempts, or both. This study examined the relation of parental bonding to suicide ideation and suicide attempts in adolescents from two settings: (1) acute psychiatric care (n = 172) and (2) high school (n = 426). All participants were administered validated measures of parental bonding, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts, as well as emotion dysregulation, loneliness, and self‐worth. In the psychiatric sample, lower parental care significantly differentiated adolescents with a history of suicide attempts from those with suicide ideation only or without histories of suicidality. This pattern remained even after controlling for other known correlates of suicidality (i.e., emotional dysregulation, loneliness, and low self‐worth). Similar effects were found in the community sample, although these findings failed to reach statistical significance. In both samples, parental overprotection was not associated with suicide ideation or suicide attempts. Results suggest that parental care may be an important risk factor for youth suicidal behavior and may help differentiate suicide attempters from suicide ideators.     

Associations of Emotional Abuse Types With Suicide Ideation Among Dating Couples

Numerous studies have demonstrated that coercive control is more strongly associated with suicidal ideation than other forms of intimate partner violence. However, a majority of these studies focused on samples of help-seeking women. This study examined whether coercive control remains the form of intimate partner violence most strongly associated with suicidal ideation within a sample of nonclinical dating couples. This cross-sectional, survey study on 104 dating couples examined the associations of coercive control (i.e., dominance/intimidation and restrictive engulfment) with suicidal ideation, while controlling for other forms of emotional abuse (i.e., hostile withdrawal and denigration), physical assault, and depressive symptoms. As expected, dominance/intimidation and depressive symptoms, but not denigration and physical assault, were associated with suicidal ideation. Contrary to our hypothesis, hostile withdrawal, but not restrictive engulfment, was associated with suicidal ideation. This study suggests that dominance/intimidation and hostile withdrawal are forms of emotional abuse that are pertinent to suicidal ideation in nonclinical dating couples.     

大学生抗挫折心理能力对自杀意念影响的研究

为了探讨大学生抗挫折心理能力对自杀意念的影响,采用《抗挫折心理能力问卷》和《自杀意念自评量表》对882名大学生进行调查研究.结果发现:(1)大学生抗挫折心理能力在性别、年级、生源、学校类型等因素上存在显著差异;(2)大学生抗挫折心理能力与自杀意念之间呈显著的负相关,抗挫折心理能力的多个因素与自杀意念各因素之间的负相关显著;(3)大学生的挫折容忍力、意志品质、挫折复原力、信心、挫折认知水平、挫折经验是自杀意念的有效预测变量.     

Impact of Economic Hardship and Financial Threat on Suicide Ideation and Confusion

The present study tested the extent to which perceived economic hardship is associated with psychological distress (suicide ideation and confusion) after controlling for personal characteristics. It also explored whether perceived financial threat (i.e., fearful anxious-uncertainty about the stability and security of one's personal financial situation) mediates the relationship between economic hardship and psychological distress outcomes. The theoretical model was tested in a sample of Canadian students (n = 211) and was validated in a community sample of employed Portuguese adults (n = 161). In both samples, the fit of the model was good. Parameter estimates indicated that greater experience of economic hardship increased with financial threat, which in turn increased with levels of suicide ideation and confusion. We discuss the practical implications of these results, such as for programs aimed at alleviating the burden of financial hardship, in our concluding remarks.     

Predicting Suicide Ideation in the Military: The Independent Role of Aggression

The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between aggression and suicide ideation when controlling for other externalizing (i.e., alcohol misuse and risk‐taking) and internalizing (i.e., depression and sleep problems) risk factors in an active duty, military sample. Preexisting data from a longitudinal study were analyzed to assess the wellness of service members across the deployment cycle. Participants were 944 active duty service members (95% male, 48% between 18 and 24 years old) who completed surveys upon initial return from deployment and approximately 3 months later. After controlling for other externalizing (alcohol misuse, risk‐taking) and internalizing (depression, sleep problems) risk factors, service members reporting aggression were significantly more likely to report suicide ideation than those reporting no aggression (OR = 3.19; OR 95% CI: 1.16–8.80). The independent nature of the relationship between anger and suicidality suggests aggression may be an important indicator of suicidality for service members. Understanding the role of aggression in suicidality may improve the ability to identify at‐risk service members and to develop effective interventions to reduce suicide risk.     

Suicide Ideation and Attempts among Low‐Income African American Adolescents

We examined the impact of risk and protective factors on the odds that African American adolescents seriously think about or attempt suicide. Data from students in grades 5–12 in a mostly urban, southeastern U.S. school district were analyzed. Findings support earlier work documenting differences in gender and grades. Risk factors were uniformly significant in understanding both ideation and attempts. Protective factors were not consistent predictors; the lowering role of religious protective factors was limited, though student's belonging to or their perception of belonging to a spiritual community was a significant factor in lowering the odds of suicide ideation.