Disentangling the Interrelations Between Hopelessness,Loneliness, and Suicidal Ideation

We attempted to disentangle the interrelations between hopelessness, loneliness, and suicidal ideation, by comparing two conceptually driven models of their relationships, prospectively among 234 undergraduates, using a series of multiple regression/correlation equations. Model 1 framed loneliness as a risk factor for future suicidally that operates via its influence on hopelessness (the mediational view). Model 2 viewed hopelessness as a source variable that is predictive of both loneliness and suicidally, and postulated no relation between loneliness and suicidality beyond hopelessness. Model 2 received support, whereas Model 1 did not. We discuss the implications of our findings for the nomological status of hopelessness and loneliness as correlates of suicidality, and for exploration of the structural interrelations of suicide-related variables in general.     

Development and Validation of a Brief Self-Report Measure of Agitation: The Brief Agitation Measure

Emerging evidence indicates that agitation is an ominous precursor to imminent death by suicide, yet measures of it are few, and to our knowledge, no self-report measure of agitation exists. To fill this gap, we have developed the Brief Agitation Measure (BAM), which is designed as a brief measure to assess agitation. In this article, we provide preliminary evidence from 2 studies examining the reliability and validity of the BAM in an undergraduate sample as well as a clinical sample. We close with a discussion of the limitations of the studies and implications of our findings.     

Suicidal ideation in college students varies across semesters: the mediating role of belongingness

The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior (Joiner, 2005) proposes that the need to belong is fundamental; when met it can prevent suicide and when thwarted it can substantially increase the risk for suicide. We investigate one source of group-wide variation in belongingness among college students--changes in the social composition of college campuses across academic semesters--as an explanation for variation in suicidal ideation across the academic year. Our results indicate that in a sample of college students at a large southern state university (n = 309), suicidal ideation varied across academic semesters, with highest levels in summer compared to both spring and fall. Differences in suicidal ideation between summer and spring were, in large part, accounted for by belongingness. Theoretical, as well as practical, implications are discussed regarding mechanisms for seasonal variation in suicidal ideation.     

Global Maladaptive Schemas, Negative Life Events, and Psychological Distress

The relationship between maladaptive self-schemas, negative life events, and psychological distress was assessed. The model tested was based on Young's (J. Young, 1990) diathesis–stress conceptualization of maladaptive schemas, which are believed to represent the cognitive diathesis underlying Axis II personality pathology. Young's model predicts that schemas are chronically activated in individuals with maladaptive schemas. Therefore, the experience of salient negative life events is less likely to exacerbate the level of distress experienced by those having maladaptive schemas. A nonclinical sample (N = 93) was assessed using the Schema Questionnaire (SQ), a measure of maladaptive self-schemas, a measure of negative life events, and several measures of psychological distress. Support was found for this prediction indicated by a Schema × Negative Life Events interaction in which the distress level of High SQ participants was less affected by negative life events compared to Low SQ participants.     

Health Perceptions and Anxiety Sensitivity in Patients with Panic Disorder

Separate lines of research indicate that patients with panic disorder display negative perceptions of physical health and elevated fear of autonomic arousal. Because health perceptions and anxiety sensitivity may be related, the present study evaluated the degree to which these constructs can be distinguished in patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for panic disorder (N = 44). Perceived health, anxiety sensitivity, and the clinical features of panic disorder were assessed at pretreatment and following 12 sessions of cognitive–behavioral treatment. Findings consistently indicated that perceived health and anxiety sensitivity can be meaningfully differentiated. Perceived physical health was only moderately associated with anxiety sensitivity, and each was uniquely associated with pretreatment symptomatology and posttreatment end-state functioning. Perceived physical health appears to be a clinically useful index in the overall evaluation of panic disorder and is readily distinguishable from anxiety sensitivity.     

Muscularity versus leanness: an examination of body ideals and predictors of disordered eating in heterosexual and gay college students

The aim of the current study was to add to the growing body of research on men with eating disorders by examining the association between different types of body dissatisfaction (muscularity and body fat) and disordered eating in heterosexual and gay men. Two hundred four participants (over one-third were gay) completed measures assessing disordered eating, muscularity and body fat dissatisfaction, and sexual orientation. Body fat dissatisfaction, but not muscularity dissatisfaction, predicted disordered eating, dietary restraint, and concerns about weight and eating in gay and heterosexual men. These findings were consistent across all measures of body fat and muscularity dissatisfaction, providing stronger evidence that body fat dissatisfaction may be a greater risk factor for disordered eating in both gay and heterosexual college aged men than muscularity dissatisfaction.     

A test of the tripartite model of depression and anxiety in older adult psychiatric outpatients

This study examined the tripartite model of depression and anxiety in 131 psychiatric outpatients, ages 55-87. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a 3-factor model provided an adequate fit to the observed data, that the 3-factor model was empirically superior to 1- or 2-factor models, and that the 3-factor structure obtained in the current sample of older adult outpatients converged with that obtained on a separate, younger 'sample. Negative affect was significantly related to depression and anxiety symptoms and syndromes, and positive affect was more highly related to depression than anxiety symptoms and syndromes. Ways for taking into account possible age-associated differences in emotion in older adults and thus improving the conceptual model of anxiety and depression are briefly noted.     

Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being

The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions predicts that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, and, by consequence, initiate upward spirals toward increasing emotional well-being. The present study assessed this prediction by testing whether positive affect and broad-minded coping reciprocally and prospectively predict one another. One hundred thirty-eight college students completed self-report measures of affect and coping at two assessment periods 5 weeks apart. As hypothesized, regression analyses showed that initial positive affect, but not negative affect, predicted improved broad-minded coping, and initial broad-minded coping predicted increased positive affect, but not reductions in negative affect. Further mediational analyses showed that positive affect and broad-minded coping serially enhanced one another. These findings provide prospective evidence to support the prediction that positive emotions initiate upward spirals toward enhanced emotional well-being. Implications for clinical practice and health promotion are discussed.     

Self-defeating personality disorder reconsidered

The objective of this study was to assess the distinctiveness, incremental validity, and gender bias of self-defeating personality disorder (SDPD) symptoms. A total of 441 nonclinical subjects completed personality disorder questionnaires. Structural equation modeling and regression analyses indicated that SDPD symptoms were distinctive, predicted impairment/distress beyond other personality disorder symptoms, and showed no gender bias. SDPD warrants reconsideration as a valid nosological category.     

Negative attributional style, hopelessness depression and endogenous depression

The hopelessness theory of depression [Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I. & Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: a theory-based subtype of depression. Psychological Review, 96, 358-372.] postulates that a negative attributional style represents a risk factor for a particular constellation of depressive symptoms, termed 'hopelessness depression'. Four studies tested the relation of negative attributional style to hopelessness depression symptoms versus endogenous depression symptoms. Despite the considerable overlap of hopelessness and endogenous depression symptoms, negative attributional style was more related to the former than the latter, consistent with hopelessness theory.