Suicide-Related Training, Self-Efficacy, and Mental Health Care Providers' Reactions Toward Suicidal Individuals.

Background: Mental health care providers commonly encounter suicide ideation and suicidal behaviors among their patients despite a frequent lack of adequate knowledge and competence regarding suicide risk management. Aims: This study examined the associations among self-perceived sufficiency of training, self-efficacy, anxiety, and attitudes related to working with suicidal individuals. Method: Participants were 289 mental health care providers who completed a self-report survey. Results: Path analysis results indicated that perceived sufficiency of training was indirectly associated with negative attitudes (i.e., avoidance and discomfort) and cognitive and somatic anxiety about working with suicidal individuals through assessment self-efficacy. Limitations: The current study utilized cross-sectional data, and there were occupational heterogeneity and geographical homogeneity among the mental health care providers sampled. Conclusion: These findings suggest that sufficient suicide-related training focused on risk assessment may decrease mental health professionals' negative and anxious reactions toward suicidal individuals and enhance confidence in suicide risk management.

Mental Health Professionals' Suicide Risk Assessment and Management Practices.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 20% of suicide decedents have had contact with a mental health professional within 1 month prior to their death, and the majority of mental health professionals have treated suicidal individuals. Despite limited evidence-based training, mental health professionals make important clinical decisions related to suicide risk assessment and management. AIMS: The current study aimed to determine the frequency of suicide risk assessment and management practices and the association between fear of suicide-related outcomes or comfort working with suicidal individuals and adequacy of suicide risk management decisions among mental health professionals. METHOD: Mental health professionals completed self-report assessments of fear, comfort, and suicide risk assessment and management practices. RESULTS: Approximately one third of mental health professionals did not ask every patient about current or previous suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Further, comfort, but not fear, was positively associated with greater odds of conducting evidence-based suicide risk assessments at first appointments and adequacy of suicide risk management practices with patients reporting suicide ideation and a recent suicide attempt. LIMITATIONS: The study utilized a cross-sectional design and self-report questionnaires. CONCLUSION: Although the majority of mental health professionals report using evidenced-based practices, there appears to be variability in utilization of evidence-based practices.

Thwarted interpersonal needs and suicide ideation: Comparing psychiatric inpatients with bipolar and non-bipolar mood disorders.

Psychiatric inpatients are at heightened risk for suicide, and evidence suggests that psychiatric inpatients with bipolar mood disorders may be at greater risk for suicide ideation compared to those with non-bipolar mood disorders. There is a paucity of research directly comparing risk factors for suicide ideation in bipolar versus non-bipolar mood disorders in an inpatient sample. The current study sought to clarify the association between two constructs from the interpersonal theory of suicide (i.e., perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness) in leading to suicide ideation among psychiatric inpatients with bipolar and non-bipolar mood disorders. Participants were (N=90) psychiatric inpatients with a bipolar (n = 20) or non-bipolar mood disorder (n=70; per their medical charts). Perceived burdensomeness, but not thwarted belongingness, was significantly associated with suicide ideation after adjusting for other covariates. This suggests perceived burdensomeness may play a key role in suicide ideation among psychiatric inpatients with any mood disorder and highlights the importance of assessment and intervention of perceived burdensomeness in this population. Contrary to our hypothesis, mood disorder group (i.e., bipolar versus non-bipolar) did not moderate the relations between perceived burdensomeness/thwarted belongingness and suicide ideation.

A "unity assumption" does not promote intersensory integration.

An account of intersensory integration is premised on knowing that different sensory inputs arise from the same object. Could, however, the combination of the inputs be impaired although the "unity assumption" holds? Forty observers viewed a square through a minifying (50%) lens while they simultaneously touched the square. Half could see and half could not see their haptic explorations of the square. Both groups, however, had reason to believe that they were touching and viewing the same square. Subsequent matches of the inspected square were mutually biased by touch and vision when the exploratory movements were visible. However, the matches were biased in the direction of the square's haptic size when observers could not see their exploratory movements. This impaired integration without the visible haptic explorations suggests that the unity assumption alone is not enough to promote intersensory integration.