Internet Use and Web Communication Networks,Sources of Social Support,and Forms of Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury Among Adolescents: Different Patterns Between Genders

The relationships of Internet use, web communication, and sources of social support with adolescent self‐injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) in Taiwan were investigated. The study sample of 391 12 to 18‐year‐olds was selected from nine public high schools. Findings show that girls are more likely to have SITBs, except for suicide gestures. Web communication is a risk factor for SITBs in boys but not in girls. Family support is protective in both genders. Support from friends is protective and support from significant others was a risk factor for suicide plans in girls. Support from virtual social communities can have both positive and negative effects on adolescent SITBs, with different effects by gender.     

Factors that Influence Chaplains’ Suicide Intervention Behavior in the Army

We surveyed 868 Army chaplains and 410 chaplain assistants (CAs) about their role in identifying, caring for, and referring soldiers at risk of suicide to behavioral health care. We applied structural equation modeling to identify how behaviors and attitudes related to intervention behavior. In both samples, reluctance and stigma were related to intervention behaviors; efficacy was correlated with intervention behaviors only among chaplains. Training was associated with increased efficacy and lower levels of stigma among chaplains. Improved training may be warranted, but research needs to identify why chaplains and CAs are reluctant to refer soldiers in distress to behavioral health care.     

Trajectories of Suicidal Ideation from Sixth through Tenth Grades in Predicting Suicide Attempts in Young Adulthood in an Urban African American Cohort

The trajectory of suicidal ideation across early adolescence may inform the timing of suicide prevention program implementation. This study aimed to identify developmental trajectories of suicidal ideation among an urban cohort of community‐residing African Americans (AA) longitudinally followed from middle school through early adulthood (ages 11–19 years). Subtypes based on the developmental course of suicidal ideation from late childhood through mid‐adolescence were identified using longitudinal latent class analysis (LLCA) with 581 AA adolescents (52.7% male; 71.1% free or reduced school meals). The developmental trajectories of suicidal ideation were then used to predict suicide attempts in young adulthood. Our LLCA indicated two subtypes (i.e., ideators and nonideators), with 8% of the sample in the ideator class. This trajectory class shows a peak of suicidal ideation in seventh grade and a steady decline in ideation in subsequent grades. Additionally, suicidal ideation trajectories significantly predicted suicide attempt. Results of these analyses suggest the need for suicide prevention approaches prior to high school for AA youth.     

Suicide After Evaluation for Involuntary Psychiatric Commitment—Who Gets Them and What Influences Survival Time?

Although involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations are associated with suicide risk, little is known about the relationship between evaluation for involuntary detention and suicide. We analyzed data on 10,082 suicides from 2000 to 2011 to examine demographics related to evaluation for detention and the association between demographics and evaluation dispositions on survival time. Evaluation preceded 11% of suicides; 53.8% of deaths occurred within 365 days, 6.5 times the expected rate. Males and older individuals were least likely to have been evaluated. Minority status and referral disposition influence 30‐day survival time. Risk is highly concentrated in the first year following evaluation.     

The Incremental Utility of Emotion Regulation But Not Emotion Reactivity in Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury

This study assessed the incremental utility of emotion reactivity and emotion regulation in relation to nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI). Participants included 379 college students aged 18–22 who completed self‐report measures of emotion regulation, emotion reactivity, and NSSI. Emotion regulation was significantly related to NSSI both ignoring and controlling for reactivity, but the reverse was not true. Participants' use of NSSI for affect regulation appeared to moderate this relation. Findings support emotion regulation deficits as a target for intervention over and above heightened emotion reactivity, especially in those who use NSSI to regulate negative affect.     

Postdeployment Suicide Risk Increases Over a 6‐month Period: Predictors of Increased Risk among Midwestern Army National Guard Soldiers

National Guard (NG) soldiers returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan were surveyed at 6 and 12 months following their return (N = 970). The overall prevalence of suicide risk at 6 and 12 months following their return was assessed, as were changes in suicide risk among soldiers initially at high or low risk. Factors associated with changes in risk were assessed. The percentage of NG soldiers with high suicide risk increased from 6.8% at 6 months to 9.2% at 12 months (odds ratio = 1.7, p = .02). In the 882 soldiers initially at low risk, 5.9% (52/882) became high risk at 12 months; in the 64 soldiers initially at high risk, 46.9% (30/64) became low risk at 12 months. Initial levels of depressive symptoms were predictive of changing to high risk; this association appeared to be partially explained by soldier reports of increased search in the meaning in life and higher levels of perceived stress. Because suicide risk increases over the first 12 months, continued risk assessments during this time period should be considered. Supporting soldiers to find meaning in their life after deployment and enhancing their capacity to cope with perceived stress may help prevent increases in suicide risk over time.     

Is Exposure to Suicide Beyond Kin Associated with Risk for Suicidal Behavior? A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Suicide bereavement and postvention literature often espouses risk for subsequent suicidal behavior among those previously exposed to a suicide death. Most often risk is discussed in relation to kin; however, many more individuals are exposed to suicide, and the impact of this exposure is important to understand in relation to targeting postvention. This review examined the research literature (1990–2014) to determine the evidence base for risk among those exposed to suicide. The findings demonstrate that risk of suicidal behaviors among those exposed to the suicide is significantly higher than those unexposed. These results are discussed within the context of current research in the field of postvention, and suggestions for future research are suggested.     

Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury in Adolescents: Characterization of the Disorder and the Issue of Distress and Impairment

Nonsuicidal self‐injury disorder (NSSID) is a condition in need of further study to assess the validity of the potential diagnosis and its suggested criteria. This study examined the NSSID diagnosis and investigated the distress/impairment criterion by comparing community adolescents who met all criteria for NSSID (n = 186) to adolescents with five or more nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) episodes (n = 314), and to a group of adolescents who met all criteria but negated that their NSSI caused them any distress or impairment, thus failing to meet criterion E (n = 29). The NSSID group delimited from the ≥ 5 NSSI group by reporting significantly more frequent and severe self‐injurious thoughts and behaviors, as well as having more experiences of negative life events and higher levels of trauma symptoms. There were also some differences between the NSSID group and adolescents without distress/impairment, which together contribute valuable information on the potential NSSID diagnosis, as well as the discussion of criterion E.