Suicide assessment and evaluation strategies: a primer for counselling psychologists

Suicide is a recognized national health risk in many countries. In order to effectively intervene in suicidal crises, it is important for mental health professionals to understand facts about suicidal behaviour, procedures for assessing an individual's risk of self-harm, and the evaluation of the lethality of a client's suicidal gestures. With updated knowledge and proper training, counselling psychologists can play a vital role in suicide prevention. This paper summarizes for counselling psychologists current statistics about suicide, general and specific risk factors for suicidality, and assessment tools used to evaluate suicidal risk.     

College Student Samples Are Not Always Equivalent: The Magnitude of Personality Differences Across Colleges and Universities

This research examined the magnitude of personality differences across different colleges and universities to understand (a) how much students at different colleges vary from one another and (b) whether there are site‐level variables that can explain observed differences. Nearly 8,600 students at 30 colleges and universities completed a Big Five personality trait measure. Site‐level information was obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Education System database (U.S. Department of Education). Multilevel models revealed that each of the Big Five traits showed significant between‐site variability, even after accounting for individual‐level demographic differences. Some site‐level variables (e.g., enrollment size, requiring letters of recommendation) explained between‐site differences in traits, but many tests were not statistically significant. Student samples at different universities differed in terms of average levels of Big Five personality domains. This raises the possibility that personality differences may explain differences in research results obtained when studying students at different colleges and universities. Furthermore, results suggest that research that compares findings for only a few sites (e.g., much cross‐cultural research) runs the risk of overgeneralizing differences between specific samples to broader group differences. These results underscore the value of multisite collaborative research efforts to enhance psychological research.     

Alcohol Intoxication and Metamemory: Little Evidence that Moderate Intoxication Impairs Metacognitive Monitoring Processes

There is minimal research on metacognition in alcohol‐intoxicated participants. Study 1 examined metacognition across sober, intoxicated, and placebo groups, with the intoxicated group's breath alcohol concentration reaching 0.074 g/210 L on average immediately prior to the metacognition task. Participants answered cued recall general knowledge questions and provided confidence ratings and feeling‐of‐knowing judgments. They then completed a recognition (i.e., multiple choice) version of the same task, indicating an answer and a confidence rating for each question. Findings suggest that metacognitive accuracy generally did not vary across intoxication levels, although the control group's retrospective confidence judgments better discriminated between accurate and inaccurate responses than the alcohol groups in the recognition task. Study 2 surveyed academic psychologists about their expectations regarding the relation between alcohol and metacognition. Study 1's results were counter to their expectations, as respondents generally predicted a relation would be present. We discuss the implications for alcohol and memory.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Patient Who Was Not There

Many clinicians attest to the challenges of working with the adolescent patient. The phase itself prescribes resistances to forming a transference relationship, not to mention that passions and conflicts can be stirred in the therapist that had long been dormant. Various theoretical positions have dictated different paths, from systems theory to Freud’s treatment of Little Hans. This article describes a case that took an unorthodox route based on an adolescent’s refusal and Lacan’s formulation of the function of a child’s symptom in the intrapsychic world of the parent. The outcome opened pathways for growth for both the adolescent and the parents, suggesting that the uniqueness of the phase of adolescence allows for new pathways for clinical intervention as well.     

Religiosity and well-being among older Jewish Israelis: Findings from SHARE

ABSTRACT

This study examined the correlates of religiosity among Jewish Israelis aged 50 and older. Based on the second wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe, the findings show that almost half the Jewish respondents never pray and that, on average, prayer frequency is lower among Jewish Israelis than it is among most of their European counterparts. Multivariate logistic analyses revealed that those who pray more often have more health conditions, are less able to make ends meet financially, and have fewer years of education. However, when facing ill health those who pray more often display a relatively lesser decline in their sense of well-being.     

Helping Others Shows Differential Benefits on Health and Well-being for Male and Female Teens

Objectives Adults who engage in altruistic social interest behaviors experience better mental health and have lower mortality rates than non-altruistic adults. The present study investigated the relationship between altruism and health and well-being in teens, and demographic and lifestyle variables. Methods A cross-sectional survey was implemented with a national sample of teens recruited through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Measures included the PedsQL, the Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale, and a new self-report scale of Altruism (subscales: Receiving/ Providing Emotional Support, Family Helping Behavior, General Helping Behavior, and Helping Orientation). Results Data were collected from 457 teens (M age = 15.6, sd 1.2). Psychometric analyses revealed that a five-factor model fit the altruism data well. Multivariate regression revealed no association between providing emotional support and psychosocial health. There were, however, many associations between altruism and well-being, and differential associations by gender. Family helping was the most salient aspect of altruism for males, showing associations with positive social relations, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. For females, General Helping Behavior was associated with positive social relations, and Helping Orientation was associated with better purpose in life. Family Helping was associated with better physical health in females, but not for males. The only correlates of altruism were higher age, more physical activity, and engaging in positive religious coping. Conclusions Altruism is positively associated with health for females and with well-being for both males and females. Different gender-specific interventions to guide teens in doing more altruistic activities may have to be designed to capitalize on these different associations.

Disclosure and rationality: Comparative risk information and decision-making about prevention

With the growing focus on prevention in medicine, studies of how to describe risk have become increasing important. Recently, some researchers have argued against giving patients “comparative risk information,” such as data about whether their baseline risk of developing a particular disease is above or below average. The concern is that giving patients this information will interfere with their consideration of more relevant data, such as the specific chance of getting the disease (the “personal risk”), the risk reduction the treatment provides, and any possible side effects. I explore this view and the theories of rationality that ground it, and I argue instead that comparative risk information can play a positive role in decision-making. The criticism of disclosing this sort of information to patients, I conclude, rests on a mistakenly narrow account of the goals of prevention and the nature of rational choice in medicine.

Mediational role of values in linking personality traits to political orientation

Two studies use the Five Factor Model of traits and Schwartz's (1992 ) theory of basic personal values to assess the mediational role of values in linking traits to voting choice and left-right ideology. Both left- and right-wing voters showed distinctive traits and values that were congruent with their ideologies. Structural equation modelling supported a hypothesized full mediation model. Individuals' traits of openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness explained significant variance in the politically relevant values of security and universalism, and these self-reported values, in turn, explained the voters' political orientations. These findings held across age (adolescents and adults) and were corroborated using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data.