Characterizing suicide-related self-disclosure by peer specialists: a qualitative analysis of audio-recorded sessions.

Objective: We characterized peer support specialists' self-disclosures related to suicide and recipient responses to inform services for high-risk individuals that may include peer support. Method: We used an inductive approach and thematic analysis to identify themes from audio recordings of initial sessions between peer support specialists trained in suicide-related self-disclosure and 10 study participants who were admitted to inpatient psychiatry units with suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt. Results: The first theme, "I've been suicidal, but those details are not important", reflects that peers mentioned suicide-related aspects of their histories briefly, often as part of introductions, without participants responding specifically to those aspects. The second theme, "Being suicidal is one of the challenges I've faced", reflects that in more detailed disclosures by peer specialists and in participant responses, suicide is a part of the mental health challenges and life stressors discussed, not the focus. The third theme "Let's focus on my recovery and what I've learned" reflects that peers steered their self-disclosures away from suicide and towards what was helpful in their recovery. Conclusions: Suicide-related self-disclosures embedded within peer specialists' introduction or overall recovery narrative convey a shared experience while focusing conversation on mental health challenges other than suicide.

Audience Design and Social Relations in Aging.

This study asks two questions: (1) Do older adults modify their language based on age of the listener (audience design)? (2) Does social contact affect audience design in older adults? Older adults (n = 34; mean age = 82) engaged in an instructions task with two fictive listeners (a child and an adult) to test these questions. Results show that older adults used a greater total number of propositions and rapport-building devices and a lower type-token ratio when giving instructions to the child compared to the adult listener. Adults with more social interactions used more propositions when talking to a child. In addition, satisfaction with interactions was significantly positively related to task-tracking devices and negatively related to rapport-building devices by older adults. These results suggest that audience design and social relations are worth further study in language maintenance in older age.