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.

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)

Introduction to the Special Issue

The framework of intersectionality has become a mainstay of counseling research and practice, given its theoretical underpinnings in social justice (see Chan et al., 2018;Chan & Erby, 2018;Mitchell & Butler, 2021). Using the multicultural and social justice counseling competencies to decolonize counseling practice: The important roles of theory, power, and action. When being "essential" illuminates disparities: Counseling clients affected by COVID-19. The four articles in this special issue highlight timely topics on advancing the science and practice of counseling as a developmental approach. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Adultspan Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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.