Prevention Programs to Augment Family and Child Resilience Can Have Lasting Effects on Suicidal Risk

In this commentary, the effects of four family‐based preventive interventions designed to augment parent and child resilience, originally designed to prevent mental health and substance abuse, on suicide ideation and attempts are reviewed. Three of the preventive interventions showed a beneficial effect either on child suicide ideation or attempts, and one found a beneficial effect on parental suicidal ideation. The duration of effects in two of these studies was well longer than a decade. These studies suggest that interventions to augment family and child resiliency originally designed to prevent mental health and substance abuse disorders can also have beneficial, often long‐term, effects on suicidal ideation and behavior.     

Impulsivity and Sensation Seeking: Differing Associations with Psychological Well-Being

Sensation seeking and lack of inhibition are often discussed as risk factors for hazardous and maladaptive behavior, particularly during the transition into adulthood. However, some degree and types of novelty-seeking and exploration may also be adaptive and conducive to psychological well-being. The current study examines associations between sensation seeking, impulsivity, and well-being in a large US adult sample (n = 1399, mean age = 36.2 years, range: 18–78). As conceptualized by the UPPS-P model (Whiteside and Lynam, Personality and Individual Differences, 30(4), 669-689, 2001), sensation seeking (pursuit of stimulation) was distinguished from other forms of impulsivity (lack of inhibition) by having a positive association with psychological well-being, eudaimonic well-being, and mental health status. Those positive relations were stronger for younger adults compared to older adults. Negative urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, and positive urgency all held either negative or null associations with well-being. Findings indicate that sensation seeking has positive associations with psychological and eudaimonic well-being, in contrast to other elements of impulsivity, and particularly among younger adults.