Depressive Symptoms Moderate the Association Between the Recent History of Alcohol Use Severity and Suicide Attempt History Among Adults in a Pretrial Jail Diversion Program.

Background: Justice-involved individuals are at elevated risk for suicidal behavior; however, research examining risk for suicidal behavior in pretrial jail diversion programs (pretrial diversion) is limited. Aims: We aimed to test (1) associations between depressive symptoms and alcohol and drug use, and suicide attempt history (SAH), and (2) interactions between depressive symptoms and alcohol and drug use in relation to SAH among adults in an urban pretrial jail diversion program. Method: The design was cross-sectional, including self-report assessments and file reviews of historical information. Adults (N = 274; Mage = 33.72; 73.7% men; 52.6% non-Hispanic Black) completed assessments within two weeks of beginning the pretrial program. Results: Depressive symptoms were positively associated with SAH after adjusting for other covariates. The significant depressive symptoms by alcohol use interaction indicated that adults with low to average depressive symptoms evidenced a similar likelihood of SAH to those with high depressive symptoms when they also had elevated alcohol use scores. Limitations: We used cross-sectional self-report data. Conclusion: It may be important to conduct suicide risk assessments for justice-involved people who use alcohol even when depressive symptoms are low.

Substance use, current criminal justice involvement, and lifetime suicidal thoughts and behaviors history: The moderating role of thwarted belonging.

OBJECTIVE: Criminal justice involvement, substance use, and suicide pose significant public health concerns; however, the unique and synergistic effects of these experiences among high-risk individuals remain understudied. We hypothesized positive main effects for alcohol-related severity, drug-related severity, current criminal justice involvement, and thwarted belonging (TB) on suicide ideation history (SIH) and suicide attempt history (SAH) and that TB would moderate these associations. METHOD: We report on cross-sectional analyses of self-report assessments completed by 824 adult residential substance use patients. RESULTS: Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that as alcohol- and drug-related severity increases, the probability of SIH and SAH increases; however, TB was only associated with a higher SIH probability. Significant two-way interactions (current criminal justice involvement*TB; alcohol-related severity*TB) indicated that (1) those high in TB with current criminal justice involvement were more likely to report a SIH than those without current criminal justice involvement; and (2) those low in TB and alcohol-related severity had the lowest SAH probability, whereas those low in TB and high in alcohol-related severity had the highest SAH probability. CONCLUSION: The unique and combined effects of interpersonal and contextual risk factors may improve suicide risk conceptualization and assessment, and allow for tailored treatments for this high-risk population.

How Effective are Psychosocial Group Workings in Improving Treatment Compliance and Self-Efficacy? An Experimental Study with Substance Users.

INTRODUCTION: Group work is one of the most effective treatment methods in rehabilitation of substance use behavior. In addition, the individual's motivation to quit substance and self-efficacy perceptions of quitting are important factors for the course of the treatment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of group work process on motivational processes (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, interpersonal help seeking and confidence-in-treatment subscales) and self-efficacy perception of substance users. METHOD: This is an experimental study with 43 substance users. The Treatment Motivation Questionnaire subscales were used to measure the effect of the group work on the dimensions of treatment motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, confidence-in-treatment, interpersonal help seeking), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale was used to measure the effect of group work on the self-efficacy perceptions. RESULTS: The group work resulted in a significant increase in participants' intrinsic motivation and confidence-in-treatment. However, group work did not result in any significant change in extrinsic motivation, interpersonal help seeking and the perception of self-efficacy. In the follow-up process, a significant decrease was observed in the participants' self-efficacy perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: Group work with substance users increases the intrinsic motivation and confidence-in-treatment. Therefore, group work practices will increase the effectiveness of substance use treatment.

Submissive Behaviour, Depression, and Suicide Probability in Male Arrestees and Convicts.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of suicide probability with submissive behaviors and the levels of depression in male arrestees and convicts staying in penal institutions. METHODS: The study consisted of 326 male participants from five different prisons. A personal information form was used to collect the socio-demographic data, The Suicide Probability Scale (SPS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Submissive Behaviour Scala (SBS) were used to determine the related psychological characteristics. RESULTS: The results showed that depression was determined in 69% of the inmates (convicts and arrestees), while the suicide probability rate was found to be in the proportion of 88% which is higher than in the general population. Regarding the examination in terms of crime types, it was found that the suicide ideation rate of sex offenders or sex offender arrestees (x=18.33; ss=7.28) and the hostility rate of bulglary offenders (x=16.63; ss=4.75) were much higher than that of the other types of offenders. According to the findings of the Hierarchical Regression Analysis conducted in order to define the variables predicting the subscale rates of SPS, while previous suicide attempt(s) and depression predict hopelessness rate; self-attempted suicide, witnessing suicide attempts, self-harm and depression predict suicide ideation rate. Furthermore, education status and depression symptoms predict negative self-evaluation rate, and lastly education level, witnessing suicide attempts, self-harm and depression symptoms predict hostility subscale rate. CONCLUSION: Factors such as social isolation, mislearning, etc. were considered to cause increased feelings of hopelessness, suicide ideation, negative sense of self and feelings of hostility in convicts and arrestees staying indoors.