Risk‐Related and Protective Correlates of Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury and Co‐Occurring Suicide Attempts among Incarcerated Women

Individual and environmental correlates of nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) and co‐occurring suicide attempts (SA) among incarcerated women (N = 104) were examined. Participants completed measures of putative risk and protective factors, including coping styles, childhood maltreatment, and hopelessness. Results indicated that active coping was uniquely, negatively associated with the presence and frequency of NSSI, whereas avoidant coping and childhood physical/emotional abuse were positively associated with NSSI frequency. Conversely, among women with a history of NSSI, hopelessness was uniquely, positively associated with the presence and frequency of SA. Further, childhood sexual abuse was associated with the presence of SA, while physical/emotional abuse was associated with SA frequency. Hopelessness was more strongly related to SA frequency than NSSI frequency. These findings help disentangle the unique risk and protective factors for NSSI and co‐occurring SA in incarcerated samples.     

Stigma,Attitudes, and Help‐Seeking Intentions for Psychological Problems in Relation to Regional Suicide Rates

In this ecological study, we investigated whether help‐seeking related to stigma, intentions, and attitudes toward suicide are associated with the suicide rates of 20 regions within the Netherlands and Belgium. Significant associations were found between regional suicide rates and the intention to seek informal help (β = ?1.47, p = .001), self‐stigma (β = 1.33, p = .038), and shame (β = .71, p = .030). The association between self‐stigma and suicide rate was mediated by intentions to seek informal help. These results suggest that to promote suicide prevention at the level of the regional population, stigma, shame, and intentions to seek help should be targeted in the public domain.     

The Change in Suicide Rates between 2002 and 2011 in China

Chinese suicide rates have been reported in various studies in the past two decades, but few of them were based on national data. The most recent mortality data (2002–2011) provided by the China Ministry of Health and the detailed census data provided by the National Population Census were used in this study. We calculated the age‐, gender‐, and region‐specific suicide rates and their trends in the past 10 years between 2002 and 2011. The overall suicide rates in China decreased during the study period. The rural/urban ratio of the suicide rates has been significantly reduced from the ratio in the 1990s, and male suicide rates have exceeded those of females. Age was positively associated with suicide rates without the two peaks found in the suicide rates over 20 years ago. The Chinese suicide rates have significantly declined in the past decade, with withering of the unique suicide rate patterns previously found in Chinese suicides about 20 years ago.     

Treating the Capability for Suicide: A Vital and Understudied Frontier in Suicide Prevention

Current efforts at suicide prevention center largely on reducing suicidal desire among individuals hospitalized for suicidality or being treated for related psychopathology. Such efforts have yielded evidence‐based treatments, and yet the national suicide rate has continued to climb. We propose that this disconnect is heavily influenced by an unmet need to consider population‐level interventions aimed at reducing the capability for suicide. Drawing on lessons learned from other public health phenomena that have seen drastic declines in frequency in recent decades (HIV, lung cancer, motor vehicle accidents), we propose that current suicidality treatment efforts trail current suicidality theories in their lack of focus on the extent to which individuals thinking about suicide are capable of transitioning from ideation to attempt. We summarize extant evidence for specific capability‐centered approaches (e.g., means safety) and propose other options for improving our ability to address this largely overlooked variable. We also note that population‐level approaches in this regard would represent an important opportunity to decrease risk in individuals who either lack access to evidence‐based care or underreport suicidal ideation, as a reduced capability for suicide would theoretically diminish the potency of suicidal desire and, in this sense, lower the odds of a transition from ideation to attempt.     

Childhood Abuse,Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury,and Suicide Attempts: An Exploration of Gender Differences in Incarcerated Adults

The relationship between types of childhood abuse, suicide attempts, and nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) was examined in a sample of 415 incarcerated adults (268 men, 147 women). Men and women were equally likely to experience childhood abuse, although women were more likely to report sexual abuse and men were more likely to report emotional neglect. Sexual abuse was the only type of abuse found to predict NSSI and suicide attempts in women. For men, physical abuse and physical neglect were significant predictors of NSSI and suicide attempts, respectively. Gender differences exist and should be examined in future research in this area.     

Validation of the Suicide Resilience Inventory‐25 with American and Chinese College Students

This study is the first to evaluate evidence for measurement invariance and the psychometric properties of the Suicide Resilience Inventory‐25 (SRI‐25; Osman et al., 2004 ) in college‐age samples in both the United States and China. We found strong support for full measurement invariance of the three‐factor structure of the SRI‐25 in the U.S. (113 men and 238 women) and Chinese (121 men and 205 women) samples. In addition, we found that the U.S. sample scored significantly higher than the Chinese sample on all the individual scale scores. Composite scale reliability estimates ranged from moderate (ρ = .83) to high (ρ = .93) across the groups. Although not an aim of the current study, we examined estimates of internal consistency of the SRI‐25 scales for men and women within each sample. Differential correlates of the SRI‐25 scales were explored further for each sample. These results provide support for the use of the SRI‐25 in U.S. and Chinese student samples.     

Cognitive and Emotion‐Regulatory Mediators of the Relationship Between Behavioral Approach System Sensitivity and Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury Frequency

Nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is highly prevalent among late adolescents and predicts the onset of suicidal ideation and behavior. Although research has established an association between the behavioral approach system (BAS) and NSSI, less research has explored mechanisms underlying this relationship. The authors examined negative and positive emotion regulation patterns, as well as the BAS‐relevant cognitive style of self‐criticism, as potential mechanisms through which a hypersensitive BAS might be related to NSSI frequency. Late adolescents (N = 177) with high and moderate BAS levels completed measures of self‐criticism, positive emotion regulation, brooding, and both lifetime and last‐year frequency of NSSI. Results indicated that self‐criticism and positive emotion dampening independently mediated the relationship between BAS and last‐year frequency of NSSI. Self‐criticism also mediated the relationship between BAS and lifetime frequency of NSSI. Results suggest that cognitive and emotion‐regulatory styles may help to explain why high BAS individuals are likely to engage in NSSI.     

Suicide Risk among Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender Military Personnel and Veterans: What Does the Literature Tell Us?

Research suggests that both the military and veteran and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations may be at increased risk for suicide. A literature review was conducted to identify research related to suicide risk in the LGBT military and veteran populations. Despite the paucity of research directly addressing this issue, themes are discussed evident in the literature on LGBT identity and suicide risk as well as LGBT military service members and veterans. Factors such as social support and victimization appear to be particularly relevant. Suggestions are made with respect to future research that is needed on this very important and timely topic.