The Role of Social Connectedness and Sexual Orientation in the Prevention of Youth Suicide Ideation and Attempts Among Sexually Active Adolescents

The impact of types of social connectedness—family, other adult, and school—on suicide ideation and attempts among all youth, the relative impact of each type, and effect modification by sexual orientation was assessed. Data were from the 2007–2009 Milwaukee Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. Multivariable logistic regression analyses calculated the risk of suicide ideation and attempts by sexual orientation, types of social connectedness, and their interaction. Among all youth, each type of connectedness modeled singly conferred protective effects for suicide ideation. Family and other adult connectedness protected against suicide attempts. When modeled simultaneously, family connectedness protected against ideation and attempts. Sexual orientation modified the association between other adult connectedness and suicide ideation. Findings suggest that family connectedness confers the most consistent protection among all youth and sexual orientation does not generally modify the association between connectedness and suicidal behavior.     

Surveying Environmental Perspectives among Faculty at an Institution of Christian Higher Education

Abstract

Environmental degradation and climate change are frequently in the news, but the Christian perspective is often absent or varied. In this study, faculty at an institution of Christian higher education were surveyed to better understand their perspective and to assess if any particular factor (e.g., gender, school affiliation, or political party) can be linked to a particular environmental worldview. Although faculty held neutral positions on half of the questions, they also reported strong agreement to both pro-environment and pro-human statements. Tensions between prioritizing loving ones’ neighbor (anthropocentrism) and embracing Creation stewardship (ecocentrism) can be resolved with a God-centered theocentric worldview.     

Minority status,access to information,and individual performance

With growing nationality diversity in organizations, the question under which circumstances differences in nationality background between team members affect individual performance increases in importance. Research showed that dissimilarity may negatively affect individual performance and that the status difference between nationality majority and nationality minority moderates this effect. We take this analysis an important step further by recognizing that not all nationality minorities are low status and propose that status differences among nationality minority groups influence the extent to which nationality minority background affects individual performance. We identify the elaboration of distributed information in the team as a mediator and process accountability as a moderator in this effect. Results of a multilevel team experiment in which we manipulated team nationality composition and process accountability supported our hypotheses, testifying to the value of status-based distinctions between minority groups in the study of relational demography effects. The mediating role of the elaboration of distributed information also provides an important bridge to team diversity research inviting further conceptual integration.     

Examining the Interpersonal–Psychological Theory of Suicide in an Inpatient Veteran Sample

Suicide among veterans is a pressing public health concern. The interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide proposes that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness lead to suicidal desire, whereas the acquired capability for suicide leads to suicide attempt in the presence of suicidal desire (Joiner, 2005). Two hypotheses derived from the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide were tested in 185 veterans (96 women) entering inpatient psychiatric treatment. Burdensomeness and its interaction with belongingness significantly predicted current suicidal ideation. The three‐way interaction between burdensomeness, belongingness, and acquired capability did not significantly predict number of past suicide attempts. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.