Mind full of life: Does mindfulness confer resilience to suicide by increasing zest for life?

Thirteen years progress: a scoping review of suicide prevention initiatives in post-secondary settings

Objective: Describe the literature on suicide prevention initiatives (SPIs) in post-secondary settings internationally since 2010. Methods: A scoping review and bibliographic search were conducted across MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Scopus. Two reviewers independently screened articles and extracted data in consultation with a community social work team. Included articles described SPIs in post-secondary settings. Secondary sources and articles unavailable in English were excluded. Results: After identifying 931 citations, 76 articles representing five continents were included. Included articles spanned 2010 to 2023. Most articles represented North America, used quantitative methods, and focused on gatekeepers. SPIs in post-secondary settings were characterized by standardized and commercially available training programs and a wide variety of 'in-house' initiatives unique to campus communities. Conclusions: The quantity of research on SPIs in post-secondary settings has not kept pace with escalating mental health issues and the extent to which suicide is an urgent public health issue for young adults.

Perceived stress and suicidal ideation: The role of dispositional mindfulness

OBJECTIVES

Extant literature suggests that dispositional mindfulness may reduce the impact perceived stress has on the severity of suicidal ideation (SI). Only one study has analyzed this question but did so with a cross-sectional design in a sample of undergraduate women.

METHODS

This study analyzed the potential moderating role of dispositional mindfulness on the relation between perceived stress and SI cross-sectionally and at one-week follow-up in a sample of US adults (N = 598) with a history of SI.

RESULTS

Results indicated that dispositional mindfulness and its facets were inversely related to perceived stress, SI severity at baseline, and SI severity one week later. At baseline, regression results indicated that only the nonreacting component of dispositional mindfulness interacted with perceived stress to concurrently predict SI severity. This relation was not significant when SI severity was measured one week later.

LIMITATIONS

Study results are limited by the high attrition rate from baseline to follow-up and the relatively homogeneous sample.

CONCLUSION

Study results indicate that dispositional mindfulness, particularly components related to nonreacting, is inversely related to SI severity concurrently but not prospectively. Interventions focused on mindfulness skills, particularly skills around nonreaction to inner experience, may be beneficial for those considering suicide.

Sexual Minority Status, Affect Lability, and Suicide Ideation: Buffering Role of Trait Mindfulness

OBJECTIVE

Emotion regulation has been proposed as a mechanism driving sexual orientation disparities in suicide ideation (SI), but little research has examined the role of affect lability in the association of sexual minority identity and SI. As prior research has found trait mindfulness to be associated with lower SI, the objective of the present study was to examine the buffering role of mindfulness in the associations of sexual orientation, affect lability, and SI.

METHOD

The present study used a moderated mediation model to examine a cross-sectional dataset consisting of heterosexual (n = 1511) and sexual minority (n = 355) U.S. college students (N = 1866), to examine whether five facets of mindfulness moderated the indirect association of sexual minority identity on SI via affect lability.

RESULTS

As predicted, sexual minority identity was associated with higher affect lability, which in turn was associated with higher SI. Acting with awareness (i.e., attending to the present activities), describing (i.e., the ability to verbalize inner experiences), and non-judging (i.e., refraining from judging inner experiences) buffered the indirect association of sexual minority identity on SI via affect lability, such that the indirect association weakened at higher levels of those mindfulness facets.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results provide a better understanding of the emotion regulation mechanisms underlying the higher risk of SI among sexual minorities. Future research is needed to examine mindfulness facets as buffers against SI among other communities, and to examine the efficacy of emotion regulation and mindfulness interventions in reducing suicide ideation and other aspects of suicidality (i.e., plans/attempts).HighlightsSexual orientation disparities in suicide ideation (SI) and affect lability.Sexual minority identity linked to higher SI via higher affect lability.Three mindfulness facets attenuated indirect association of identity on SI.

Association between resilience, self-esteem and suicide probability among university students in Turkey

PURPOSE

This descriptive and correlational study was conducted to determine whether the self-esteem and resilience levels of students were predictors of suicide probability.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The survey included the demographic data sheet, Resilience scale for adults, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, the Suicide probability scale.

FINDINGS

Resilience and self-esteem scores of the students were high, while the suicide probability was low. Self-esteem and resilience levels were predictors of suicide probability.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

This highlights the need for assessing the ongoing adjustment of students' resilience and self-esteem levels over a period and providing effective programs to help them improve their resilience and self-esteem.

Resilience to suicidal behavior in young adults: a cross-sectional study

Despite decades of research on suicide risk factors in young people, there has been no significant improvement in our understanding of this phenomenon. This study adopts a positive deviance approach to identify individuals with suicide resilience and to describe their associated psychological and sociodemographic profiles. Australian young adults aged 18–25 years with suicidal thoughts (N = 557) completed an online survey covering sociodemographic, mental health status, emotion regulatory and suicide-related domains. Latent class analysis was used to identify the individuals with suicide resilience. The predictors of suicide resilience were assessed using logistic regression models. The results suggested that one in ten (n = 55) met the criteria for suicide resilience. Factors that had a significant association with suicide resilience included greater cognitive flexibility, greater self-efficacy in expressing positive affect, reduced use of digital technology and less self-harm and substance use as a response to emotional distress. This study identified the factors that may protect young adults with suicidal thoughts from progressing to suicide attempts. Suicide prevention programs might be optimised by shifting from a deficit-based to a strength-based approach through promoting cognitive flexibility, self-efficacy and reducing maladaptive coping.

Suicide resilience: A concept analysis

OBJECTIVE

Suicide resilience is gaining increasing attention from researchers because of its potential role in preventing suicide. However, it has not been clearly analyzed, and there are various meanings and terms regarding this issue. The purpose of this analysis, therefore, was to conceptualize the concept of suicide resilience.

METHODS

Walker and Avant's method of concept analysis was used to identify the antecedents, attributes, and consequences of suicide resilience. The literature was searched using PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, CNKI, and WanFang databases with no limitation on publication date. The search included peer-reviewed journal articles and dissertations related to suicide resilience published in English or Chinese.

RESULTS

52 articles were identified to provide information for this concept analysis. Five defining attributes of suicide resilience were identified: social support, coping strategies, psychological capital, meaning in life, and sense of responsibility. Antecedents of suicide resilience were high suicide risk events, and consequences of suicide resilience were keeping vulnerable individuals stay away from or overcoming suicidality.

CONCLUSIONS

The result of the analysis provided a more clear definition of suicide resilience. The identified defining attributes, antecedents, and consequences can be further tested and used to develop potential interventions. Future research is needed and will help to advance our understanding of the scope.

Mental health issues among international touring professionals in the music industry

Music industry touring professionals are generally assumed to be at elevated risk for mental health issues, highlighted by numerous high-profile suicides in recent years. Few studies have explored the prevalence of depression, suicidality and associated factors within this population. This study aims to gain an empirical understanding of the mental health issues among international touring professionals, with a particular focus on risk for depression and suicidality, and to identify potential protective factors. Data were collected between February-March 2020 as part of the Tour Health Research Initiative's Touring Health and Wellness Survey 2020. Using a multidimensional questionnaire with a sample of 1154 international touring professionals (artists and crew members), participants who completed all psychosocial measures (n = 508) demonstrated elevated levels of suicidality, risk for clinical depression, stress, anxiety and burnout. The median depression score for completers matched the recommended cutoff score of 20, which qualified 254 participants as high risk for clinical depression, while 200 (39.4%) demonstrated high scores for suicidality. In ROC curve analyses, all psychosocial measures were significant predictors of high suicidality, with a combined emotional and social measure yielding the highest classification accuracy (80%). Moderate strength linear relations were observed for all pairs of measures. Positive correlations were found among all risk factors (depression, anxiety, stress, and burnout) and these measures yielded negative correlations with the protective factors (mindfulness and the emotional/social measure). Findings suggest that interventions enhancing mindfulness and emotional/social well-being may serve as valuable treatment components for this population.

Negative life events and suicide risk in college students: Conditional indirect effects of hopelessness and self-compassion

Suicide risk is a significant public health concern for college students and may be exacerbated by hopelessness resulting from negative life events (NLE), yet may be ameliorated by self-compassion. We examined the mediating role of hopelessness in the relation between NLE and suicidal behavior, and the moderating influence of self-compassion on all model paths. Participants: Participants were 338 undergraduates (89% white; 67% female). Data were collected from December 2014 to December 2015. Methods: Participants completed the Life Events Checklist for College Students, Beck Hopelessness Inventory, Self-Compassion Scale, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire - Revised. Results: Negative life events were related to greater hopelessness and, in turn, to more suicidal behavior, yet self-compassion attenuated this effect. Conclusions: Self-compassion may buffer the NLE-hopelessness linkage, thereby reducing suicide risk among college students. Therapeutic promotion of self-compassion, and reduction of hopelessness, may be important suicide prevention strategies on college campuses.

Explicit and Implicit Hopelessness and Self-injury

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the relationship between explicit and implicit measures of hopelessness and self-injurious behavior (defined here as self-harming or suicidal actions and thoughts).

METHOD

A community sample of 267 participants completed explicit measures of hopelessness (Beck's Hopelessness Scale and a Feeling Thermometer), an implicit measure of hopelessness (Hopelessness Implicit Association Test), and a self-report measure of their history of self-injurious behavior.

RESULTS

The results showed that high levels of hopelessness, measured both explicitly or implicitly, were associated with a past and recent history of self-injury. However, there was also an interaction between the implicit and explicit measures such that explicit hopelessness was more strongly predictive of self-injury in people with high levels of implicit hopelessness.

CONCLUSION

The findings show that the implicit measurement of hopelessness can help predict past and recent self-injury beyond what explicit measures of hopelessness currently achieve and could be used in the assessment of risk of both self-harming and suicidal behaviors.

Resilience Assessment Scale for the Prediction of Suicide Reattempt in Clinical Population

The objective of this work was to construct and validate an instrument for assessing resilience to suicide attempts in a Spanish clinical population that has made a previous attempt, and to verify its efficacy for predicting future suicide reattempts at 6 months. For the construction of a Scale of Resilience to Suicide Attempts (SRSA) the theoretical-rational strategy was used. The constructed SRSA-18 consisted of 18 items and 3 subdimensions (internal and external protection and emotional stability), had high internal consistency (α = 0.88; ω = 0.89) and a high positive correlation with the Suicide Resilience Inventory-25, SRI-25 (r = 0.91; p < 0.01), and to a lesser extent with general resilience scales such as the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC (r = 0.79; p < 0.01) and the Resilience Scale of 14 items, RS-14 (r = 0.76; p < 0.01). Additionally, a specific SRSA-18 score predicted future suicide reattempts 6 months after the first attempt. This new scale (SRSA-18) assesses in a brief and rapid way, through protective factors rather than risk factors, the level of resilience to the suicide attempt in specific clinical subpopulations in hospital emergency services, being able to prevent suicide reattempts with higher lethality.

Positive affect and mindfulness as predictors of resilience amongst women leaders in higher education institutions

Orientation: Psychological resources are the factors that appear to have a significant impact on how leaders adapt to adversity and remain resilient. Positive affect and mindfulness are the psychological resources that positively relate to the levels of resilience of women leaders in higher education institutions.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of positive affect and mindfulness on the levels of resilience of women leaders in higher education institutions in South Africa.Motivation for the study: Identifying the internal resources women leaders use to facilitate resilience will allow higher education institutions to prioritise these resources in leadership support programmes to assist these women leaders.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data in a purposive sample of n = 255 women leaders in four South African higher education institutions. Pearson’s correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses and mediation analysis were used to analyse the data.Main findings: Findings indicated that positive affect and mindfulness were found to be significant predictors of resilience. Additionally, mindfulness was found to be a partial mediator in the relationship between positive affect and resilience.Practical/managerial implications: Higher education institutions can assist women leaders by investing in psychological resources such as mindfulness and positive affect to enhance the levels of resilience.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the limited research on the role of internal resources to enhance resilience in a workplace setting and more specifically amongst women leaders.

Experimentally-enhanced perceptions of meaning confer resilience to the interpersonal adversity implicated in suicide risk

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The interpersonal theory of suicide proposes that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness (PB-TB) are proximal causes of suicidal desire. Here we test whether experimentally induced perceptions of meaningfulness can confer resilience against interpersonal adversity and enhance persistence, the erosion of which is a potential antecedent to suicide risk.

METHODS

Undergraduate university students (N = 93) were randomly allocated to complete a team task under conditions of high or low task-extrinsic meaning and high or low PB-TB. Participants in the high task-extrinsic meaning condition were given the opportunity to donate to a charity as part of their experimental participation, whereas those in the low task-extrinsic meaning condition were not.

RESULTS

Consistent with the buffering hypothesis that suicide resilience is active only when adversity is heightened, participants in the high task-extrinsic meaning condition who reported higher levels of perceived meaningfulness displayed greater willingness to persist in the face of experimentally-induced high PB and TB compared to those in the low task-extrinsic meaning condition and those in conditions where the interpersonal adversity was not induced (low PB and TB).

LIMITATIONS

The meaning induction was effective only in a subset of participants. The dual induction of PB and TB also precludes inferences about their independent causal effects on willingness to persist.

CONCLUSIONS

Meaning-making interventions may attenuate the impact of proximal interpersonal antecedents of suicidal desire. Enhancing resilience in this manner can potentially improve the efficacy of prevention efforts beyond the direct amelioration of suicide risk factors.