ABSTRACT
Severity of depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation were examined to determine whether they were significantly associated with the accuracy of suicidal adolescents' ratings of stressful life events. The sample included 130 inpatient adolescents who endorsed suicide-related behaviors. Stress interviews were administered, and the severity of stressful events was rated separately by adolescents and an independent team. A residualized cognitive bias score was created by regressing adolescents' severity ratings to the independent team's severity ratings of the same events. Depressive symptoms, but not hopelessness or suicidal ideation, were significantly associated with cognitive bias scores. A negative cognitive bias in adolescents' reports of life stress may be present at higher levels of depression relative to minimal levels of depression. Further research on the relations between stress and suicide-related behaviors is encouraged to include independent ratings of stress severity.
Subject(s)
Depression/psychology , Life Change Events , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Suicidal Ideation , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Adolescent , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Risk Factors , Severity of Illness Index , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Little is known about the role of chronic stress in youth suicidal behaviors. This study examined the relations between specific domains of chronic stress and suicidal behaviors among 131 inpatient youth (M age = 15.02 years) who completed measures of stress, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and suicide intent. After controlling for demographics, diagnostic status, past history of attempt, and life event stress, the predictors of suicidal ideation were chronic stress in family relationships, close friendship, and physical health. Chronic close friendship stress also predicted suicide intent among attempters after controlling for covariates. No domain robustly predicted the presence of an attempt or moderated the relation between life event stress and suicidal behaviors. These findings highlight the role of certain domains of chronic stress in suicidal ideation and suicide intent.
Subject(s)
Stress, Psychological/psychology , Suicidal Ideation , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Inpatients/psychology , Interview, Psychological , Male , Mental Disorders/psychology , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Psychological Tests , Stress, Psychological/complicationsABSTRACT
The present study examined the unique and interactive effects of stress and problem-solving skills on suicidal behaviors among 102 inpatient adolescents. As expected, life event stress and chronic stress each significantly predicted suicidal ideation and suicide attempt. Problem solving significantly predicted suicidal ideation, but not suicide attempt. Problem solving moderated the associations between life event stress and suicidal behaviors, as well as between chronic stress and suicidal ideation, but not chronic stress and suicide attempt. At high levels of stress, adolescents with poor problem-solving skills experienced elevated suicidal ideation and were at greater risk of making a nonfatal suicide attempt. The interactive effects decreased to non-significance after controlling for depressive symptoms and hopelessness. Clinical implications are discussed.
Subject(s)
Life Change Events , Problem Solving , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Male , Motivation , Personality Inventory , Risk Factors , Suicide, Attempted/prevention & controlABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although suicidal behaviors occur at a high rate in adolescence, relatively few interview-based measures are available to assess suicidal ideation among youth. Existing interview measures are limited by a paucity of empirical study, a failure to conform to standard suicide nomenclature, or a lengthy administration time. This study presents data on the psychometric properties and factor structure of the brief, layperson-administered Modified Scale for Suicidal Ideation (MSSI) among suicidal youth. METHODS: The MSSI was administered to an inpatient sample of 102 suicidal youth aged 13-17 years. Additional interview and self-report measures were administered to examine the convergent validity of the MSSI. RESULTS: Consistent with previous findings among suicidal adults, the MSSI displayed good internal consistency and expected patterns of convergent validity. Principal component analysis revealed a bidimensional structure, with factors corresponding to (1) Desire and Ideation and (2) Plans and Preparations. Each factor displayed acceptable internal consistency and expected patterns of convergent validity via associations with hopelessness, depressive symptoms, impulsivity, and a self-report measure of suicidal behaviors. The Plans and Preparations factor significantly associated with the presence of a current suicide attempt and with greater suicide intent among attempters, whereas the Desire and Ideation factor did not. CONCLUSIONS: The MSSI appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to assess suicidal ideation among distressed youth. Clinicians are encouraged to pay particular attention to responses on the Plans and Preparations factor given its stronger association with suicide attempt and more serious suicide intent.
Subject(s)
Mass Screening , Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Suicide/psychology , Adolescent , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders/psychology , Bipolar Disorder/diagnosis , Bipolar Disorder/psychology , Comorbidity , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Depressive Disorder, Major/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder, Major/psychology , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Intention , Interview, Psychological , Male , Psychometrics/statistics & numerical data , Reproducibility of Results , Risk Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/diagnosis , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Suicide, Attempted/prevention & control , Suicide PreventionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The suppression of unwanted thoughts appears to contribute to the development and maintenance of emotional disorders. This report tested the thought suppression paradigm in relation to suicidal ideation. Based on the ironic process theory, we hypothesized that the suppression of unwanted thoughts, especially suicidal thoughts, would associate with a higher frequency and a greater intensity of suicidal ideation. METHODS: Study 1 examined cross-sectional associations between self-reported thought suppression and the frequency of suicidal ideation in a nonclinical sample of 166 undergraduate students. Study 2 extended cross-sectional findings in an inpatient sample of 71 suicidal adolescents. Study 3 examined prospective associations between suicidal thought suppression and increases in self-reported suicidal ideation over a 4-week period in a separate nonclinical sample of 118 undergraduate students. RESULTS: Findings across studies support a robust association between thought suppression and suicidal ideation, even controlling for general depressive symptoms. Participants in Studies 1 and 2 who endorsed greater tendencies toward suppression of thoughts, especially suicidal thoughts (Study 2), displayed higher concurrent levels of suicidal ideation. Participants in Study 3 who endorsed greater baseline tendencies toward suppression of suicidal thoughts displayed an increase in the severity of suicidal ideation over time. CONCLUSIONS: Suppression of suicidal thoughts may represent 1 mechanism contributing to the persistence of suicidal ideation. Clinicians may wish to explore patients' reactions to suicidal ideation and consider acceptance-oriented strategies among patients who attempt to control unwanted suicidal thoughts.
Subject(s)
Repression, Psychology , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Suicide/psychology , Thinking , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Prospective Studies , Psychometrics , Statistics as Topic , Students/psychology , Suicide/statistics & numerical data , Suicide, Attempted/statistics & numerical data , Young AdultABSTRACT
This study assessed personality disorder symptomatology in a community sample of healthy adults without diagnosable DSM-IV-TR Axis I psychiatric disorders who reported a history of childhood abuse. Twenty-eight subjects with a history of moderate to severe physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse according to the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were compared to 33 subjects without an abuse history on symptoms of personality disorders. Subjects in the Abuse group were more likely to report subclinical symptoms of paranoid, narcissistic, borderline, antisocial, obsessive compulsive, passive-aggressive, and depressive personality disorders. These findings link reports of childhood abuse with symptoms of personality disorders in the absence of Axis I psychiatric disorders in a community sample of healthy adults.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse/psychology , Personality Disorders/diagnosis , Personality Disorders/psychology , Severity of Illness Index , Adult , Child , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychometrics/methods , Risk Factors , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Traits such as behavioral inhibition and neuroticism have been linked to the development of mood and anxiety disorders. Hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a manifestation of the stress response, is often seen in major depression and has also been demonstrated in animals and humans with inhibited temperaments. A recent study found HPA hyperactivity in adults with high levels of neuroticism. The present study investigated associations of temperament and HPA function in 31 healthy adults. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Subjects completed diagnostic interviews, questionnaires, and the dexamethasone-/corticotropin-releasing hormone (Dex/CRH) test. Temperament was assessed using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). RESULTS: Novelty Seeking was inversely related to plasma cortisol concentrations in the Dex/CRH test. Harm Avoidance and Reward Dependence were not significantly associated with cortisol responses in the Dex/CRH test. The results were not accounted for by psychiatric symptoms or a history of stress or childhood maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with previous reports associating temperament factors with HPA axis hyperactivity. Further work is needed to replicate these observations and determine whether HPA axis dysfunction might account for some of the previously reported association of personality factors with mood and anxiety disorders.
