Suicidal Ideation in First‐Episode Psychosis (FEP): Examination of Symptoms of Depression and Psychosis Among Individuals in an Early Phase of Treatment

First‐episode psychosis (FEP) is a particularly high‐risk period for suicide, in which risk elevates by 60% within a first year of treatment as compared to later stages of illness. To date, much of the literature has focused on individuals with a longer duration of psychosis; thus, there is an urgency for research to examine suicide risk among individuals in FEP in the beginning stage of treatment. This study aimed to identify the relationships between demographic characteristics, symptoms of depression, psychosis (particularly positive symptoms of psychosis), and suicidal ideation among individuals in FEP. Secondary data were obtained from National Institute of Mental Health's Early Treatment Program of the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode project (N = 404). Consistent with prior research, participants who experienced suicidal ideation during the study period reported having a longer duration of untreated psychosis and greater symptoms of depression. Further, positive symptoms of psychosis, namely hallucinations and delusions, were found to increase the odds of experiencing suicidal ideation. Findings point toward the implication that depression and positive symptoms of psychosis relate to the experience of suicidal ideation among individuals with a FEP and should be evaluated for and treated in the early stages of treatment.     

Religiosity,Secular Participation,and Cultural Socialization: A Case Study of the 1933–1942 Urban English Cohort

The nature of secularization is of enduring interest in the social science of religion. Numerous recent papers have established downward cohort trends as characterizing religious change. We examine potential mechanisms by assessing cultural participation and secular engagement during the formative period of one cohort. We provide estimates of active and nominal religiosity, nonreligion and religious belief for those born between 1933 and 1942, using multiple surveys fielded between 1957 and 2018. We model the association between religiosity and secular cultural and social participation for this cohort in 1957, then examine how cultural socialization in childhood relates to religiosity in their later adulthood using surveys fielded between 2005 and 2007. Increased secular competition is found to be associated with less active religiosity. These trends were underpinned by an ethic of increasing autonomy for the young. We conclude by affirming the link between increasing secular competition, long-run modernization, and changing cultural socialization.     

Editorial Introduction to the Special Issue: Using Story Completion Methods in Qualitative Research

ABSTRACT

What is story completion? How come I’ve never heard of it? Can it be useful for me as a qualitative researcher? A relatively unknown method for qualitative data collection, story completion has a long history of use in psychotherapy practice and (quantitative) developmental psychology research. We believe it has untapped, exciting potential as a qualitative technique in and beyond psychology, offering something quite different to many of the popular methods (e.g., interviews, focus groups). In this article, an introduction to an exciting Special Issue that discusses and demonstrates the potential of story completion, we provide a brief history of the development of story completion as a qualitative technique and an overview of design, sampling, and data analysis in story completion research. We finish by highlighting potential pitfalls of story completion, alongside a discussion of the possibilities it offers, and briefly introduce the empirical papers in the Special Issue.