10 Suicidality Among Acculturating Mexican Americans: Current Knowledge and Directions for Research

Despite the dramatic increase in Mexican-American immigration over the past two decades, the acculturative experience and its relationship to suicide risk have received little attention within the field of suicidology. This paper summarizes findings from community-based studies that have explored suicide and risk factors among immigrant and Mexican-American groups, and suggests directions for future research. Most of these studies have been epidemiologic, and relatively few have addressed risk and protective factors within well-defined acculturating groups. Further study of the full continuum of suicidal thoughts and behaviors that examines precise cultural risk factors, and uses methodologies that combine quantitative and qualitative data, may improve our understanding of suicide risk among acculturating Mexican Americans.     

Self‐Efficacy to Avoid Suicidal Action: Factor Structure and Convergent Validity among Adults in Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) are at high risk of suicidal behaviors, highlighting the need for an improved understanding of potentially influential factors. One such domain is self‐efficacy to manage suicidal thoughts and impulses. Psychometric data about the Self‐Efficacy to Avoid Suicidal Action (SEASA) Scale within a sample of adults seeking SUD treatment (N = 464) is provided. Exploratory factor analysis supported a single self‐efficacy construct. Lower SEASA scores, or lower self‐efficacy, were reported in those with more severe suicidal ideation and those with more suicide attempts, providing evidence for convergent validity. Implications of measuring self‐efficacy in the context of suicide risk assessment are discussed.     

Sad mood,emotion regulation,and response inhibition

ABSTRACT

Affect-as-information models, resource allocation models, and arousal biased competition theory predict different effects of mood on cognition. To test these theories, this study examines the effect of sad mood on response inhibition (RI) and whether emotion dysregulation impacts this potential relationship. Participants were 273 undergraduates who wrote about either a typical day or a sad event from their life. They self-reported mood and emotion regulation difficulties, and RI was a composite score of Colour-Word Stroop, Stop-Signal, and go/no-go computerised tasks. The intensity of self-reported sad mood did not affect RI as predicted, but those who wrote about sad events had worse RI. Worse emotion regulation also predicted worse RI. Cognitive loads, rumination, and mind-wandering are discussed as possible mechanisms. Findings are extended from well-established areas such as working memory to the less-established area of RI.     

Prior Mental Disorders and Lifetime Suicidal Behaviors Among US Army Soldiers in the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS)

We report on associations of retrospectively reported temporally prior mental disorders and Army career characteristics with subsequent first onset of suicidal behaviors in a large, representative sample of US Army soldiers who participated in the Consolidated All‐Army Survey of the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (N = 29,982). Results reveal that among men and women, all self‐reported lifetime disorders measured (some assessed with screening scales) are associated with subsequent onset of suicide ideation. Among men, three disorders characterized by agitation and impulsiveness (intermittent explosive disorder, panic disorder, and substance disorders) predict the transition from suicide ideation to attempt. For both men and women, being in the Regular Army (vs. National Guard or Army Reserve) predicts suicide attempts in the total sample. For men, a history of deployment and junior rank are predictors of suicide attempts after adjusting for preenlistment disorders but not accounting for pre‐ and postenlistment disorders, suggesting that postenlistment disorders account for some of the increased suicide risk among these career characteristics. Overall, these results highlight associations between mental disorders and suicidal behaviors, but underscore limitations predicting which people with ideation attempt suicide.