Racial Differences in the Relationship Between Pain and Suicide Desire in Older Adults.

Older adults are reported to die by suicide at higher rates than the general population. Suicide desire among older adults is associated with pain, and pain experiences have been found to differ based on race. To investigate the relationship between pain and suicidal desire, 437 racially diverse older adults who receive home-based services (home-delivered meals) in the Southeastern region of the United States completed standardized measures of psychological pain, chronic physical pain, and suicidal desire. Results identified race moderated the relationship between pain and suicidal desire, indicating a stronger relationship between pain and suicidal desire among Black older adults than White older adults. Chronic physical pain (i.e., emotional burden) interacted with race to predict Perceived Burdensomeness (p = .011) and Thwarted Belongingness (p = .032). Greater attention to pain experiences among Black older adults is warranted, considering the impact of COVID-19 on racial/ethnic minorities' mental health.

The Role of Religious Coping in Understanding the Suicide Risk of Older Adults during COVID-19

In the United States, racially diverse, homebound older adults have been among those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. During times of disaster, persons impacted tend to turn to their faith to make sense of suffering. COVID-19 has been an unusual disaster, as physical distancing was required to keep those most susceptible safe. Due to the resulting social isolation and loneliness, suicidal behaviors and ideation (e.g., desire to die) have increased during the pandemic. Suicide desire is encapsulated by two states: thwarted belongingness (T.B., chronic loneliness and lack of reciprocal care) and perceived burdensomeness (P.B., belief that one is a burden to others and society) and has historically been inversely correlated with religiosity. Therefore, understanding how religious coping can contribute to the relationship between the impact of COVID-19 on T.B. and P.B. in homebound older adults is important in understanding their suicide risk. Our participants (ages 62–101) varied in suicidality. Increases in suicide desire over time were associated with higher levels of negative religious coping. Implications for treatment are provided, particularly the importance of fostering belongingness, buffering perceived burdensomeness with older adults, and promoting positive religious coping and support. Suggestions for future research are also provided.

Predicting suicide risk in older homebound adults during COVID-19: The role of religious coping

Emerging evidence suggests that suicidal cognition and behavior has increased among homebound older adults over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although prior studies have documented the protective role that church attendance and religious coping may play in mitigating suicide risk, it is unclear how these process may operate in the current context given the need to move many religious to an online or socially-distanced format. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which church attendance and positive religious coping predict suicide risk after controlling for the known risk factors of gender and symptoms of depression. In a sample of 310 homebound, older adults, we ran a series of stepwise, binary logistic regressions. In general, increased symptoms of depression and identifying as male made individuals more likely to fall into the high suicide risk category. Furthermore, positive religious coping, but not church attendance, improved the ability of our models to correctly classify individuals who were at low risk versus high risk for suicide. The more positive religious coping individuals used, the less likely they were to fall into the high suicide risk category. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Resource loss, religious coping, and suicide predictors/outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective study of U.S. racially diverse older adults

Racially diverse older adults are the hardest hit demographic by the COVID-19 pandemic. Suicide desire, which involves thwarted belongingness (TB;chronic loneliness and lack of reciprocal care) and perceived burdensomeness (PB;belief that one is a burden to others and society) has been argued to be exacerbated by this disaster. Conservation of resources (COR) theory posits that disasters, such as a pandemic, may cause individuals and communities to lose resources, leading to psychological distress, including suicide desire. When individuals lose resources, they often turn to their faith to cope (i.e., religious and spiritual (R/S) coping). This study invesitaged resource loss, TB, PB, and religious coping in older adults. Our participants (ages 62-107) varied in suicide desire pre-pandemic to pandemic, delineated by the following four groups: (1) those who never developed suicide desire, (2) those who developed suicide desire during COVID-19, (3) those whose suicide desire decreased during COVID- 19, and (4) those who previously desired suicide and stayed at heightened risk during COVID-19. Resource loss is affiliated with group membership, and particular types of resource loss emerged as more salient. As older adult participants' negative religious coping increased, so did their suicide desire. Implications for treatment are provided, particularly the importance of fostering belongingness and buffering perceived burdensomeness with older adults, addressing specific resource losses and negative religious coping, along with suggestions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Spiritual first aid for COVID-19

The aim of this paper is to introduce Spiritual First Aid for COVID-19, which is an evidence-informed, peer-to-peer (i.e., natural helpers, lay helpers), disaster spiritual and emotional care intervention that was designed to help others during the pandemic. This approach focuses on meeting the survivor's immediate practical needs through a safe supportive presence in order to facilitate holistic health. Implementation practices and recommendations for future research are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Resource loss and mental health during COVID-19: Psychosocial protective factors among U.S. older adults and those with chronic disease.

Across the globe, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the physical and mental health of several vulnerable groups. In a series of two cross-sectional studies conducted April to July 2020, we examined its acute mental health effects on two vulnerable U.S. community samples-home-bound older adults who were at or below the poverty line (Study 1, N = 293, Mage  = 76.94, SD = 8.64; 75.1% female, 67.9% Black) and adults with chronic disease (Study 2, N = 322, Mage  = 62.20, SD = 12.22; 46.3% female, 28.3% racial/ethnic minorities). Based on the conservation of resources theory, we hypothesised that pandemic-related resource loss would be associated with greater mental distress, but perceived social support and positive psychological characteristics (trait resilience and optimism) would buffer against this adverse effect. Across both samples of vulnerable adults, pandemic-related resource loss was related to mental distress. Perceived social support was related to lower mental distress but did not consistently buffer the effect of resource loss on mental health. However, in Study 2, both trait resilience and optimism buffered this relationship. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the conservation of resources theory.

Psychological and spiritual outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective longitudinal study of adults with chronic disease.

OBJECTIVE: This prospective longitudinal study examined whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to changes in psychological and spiritual outcomes among adults with chronic disease. METHOD: Participants (N = 302) were a stratified, nonrandom sample of adults (Mage = 64.46, SD = 10.86, 45.7% female). The sample was representative of the chronically ill, U.S. adult population in gender, race/ethnicity, region, and religious affiliation but older in age and higher in socioeconomic status. Participants completed online-administered measures 1 month before the March 11 pandemic declaration (T1) and then 1 and 3 months after it (T2 and T3). At T1 through T3, they completed measures of depression, anxiety, personal suffering, psychological well-being, trait resilience, optimism, hope, grit, spiritual struggles, spiritual fortitude, and positive religious coping. At T2 and T3, they also completed measures of social support, physical health, resource loss, perceived stress, and COVID-19 fears and exposure. RESULTS: Overall, people did not change substantially in psychological or spiritual outcomes over time. However, trait resilience increased and personal suffering declined. People highest in prepandemic suffering increased in spiritual fortitude. Racial/ethnic minorities increased in religious importance. Roughly half (48.9%) of participants exhibited psychological resilience (no/minimal depression or anxiety symptoms) at both T2 and T3. Perceived stress and psychological resource loss were associated with adverse mental health outcomes, but social support and physical health were not. COVID-19 fears contributed more to mental health than COVID-19 exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Even among vulnerable populations such as adults with chronic disease, during pandemic conditions like COVID-19, many people may exhibit-or even increase slightly in-psychological and spiritual resilience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Spiritual fortitude: A systematic review of the literature and implications for COVID-19 coping

Traumatic events, such as natural disasters, often lead to significant resource loss for survivors, which can negatively affect emotional well-being. In these situations, it is common for people to draw on their religious or spiritual faith to cope with their pain and struggle. One construct that has received increased attention within the field of religious/spiritual coping is spiritual fortitude (SF). SF refers to one's ability to draw on spiritual resources to transcend negative emotions in the face of stressors (Van Tongeren et al., 2019). In this review, we analyze eight empirical studies with 3,455 total participants. Specifically, we explore the relationship between SF and mental health and well-being, with a particular focus on its role in traumatic contexts (e.g., natural disasters). SF has been found to demonstrate a series of positive mental health benefits including higher meaning in life, spiritual well-being, positive religious coping, and perceived posttraumatic growth. We discuss areas for future research and implications for clinical practice, with specific consideration to coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)