Individuals who report nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) are characterized by the tendency to act rashly while experiencing distress (negative urgency), the tendency to act without thinking, and endorsement of both social and affect regulation motives for the behavior. However, very little research has identified characteristics that distinguish…

Risk factors, theoretical explanations, and treatment suggestions for suicidal behaviors have historically focused largely on cognitions, but a more comprehensive picture may be provided by examining the role of affect in suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In the current study the link between affect and suicide within the theoretical framework of…

Previous research has suggested that emotion dysregulation, body-related concerns, and depressive symptoms are associated with nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and disordered eating (DE) separately and in combination. However, it has been difficult to ascertain to what extent these constructs contribute to NSSI and DE given the relatively small…

Understanding the functions of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has important implications for the development and refinement of theoretical models and treatments of NSSI. Emotional and social vulnerabilities associated with five common functions of NSSI-emotion relief (ER), feeling generation (FG), self-punishment (SP), interpersonal influence…

There is disagreement in the suicide literature on the value of suicide notes as a data source, particularly regarding the extent to which suicide decedents who write notes differ from those who do not. Using 10 years of suicide cases from Summit County, Ohio, these two groups were compared on 40 variables including sociodemographic…

The prevalence of mental health and suicidal behavior was examined 8 to 10 years after an adolescent suicide attempt. Of 71 persons, 79% had at least one psychiatric disorder (mean 1.7) at follow-up, most commonly depression (46%), personality disorder (46%), and anxiety disorder (42%). The stability of diagnoses was moderate. The suicide…

Data collected from 26 therapists who were treating patients when they died by suicide were used to identify intense affective states in such patients preceding the suicide. Eleven therapists provided comparable data on 26 patients they had treated who were seriously depressed but not suicidal. Although the two groups had similar numbers diagnosed…

Data from a nationally representative sample of 5,238 U.S. adults were used to examine the extent to which physical assault victimization was associated with suicidal ideation behavior (SIB). The results from multivariate logistic regression analyses indicate that physical assault victimization was positively associated with SIB after adjusting…

Modifiable risk factors for suicide attempt require identification in clinical and community samples. The aim of this study was to determine if similar social and psychiatric factors are associated with suicide attempts in community and clinical settings and whether the magnitude of effect is greater in clinical populations. Two case-control…

The relationships between cognitive and affective attitudes toward the body, body experiences, and suicidal tendencies were examined as a derivative of the hypothesis that bodily attitudes and experiences may facilitate suicidal acting out. Results show that the suicidal group differed from the two nonsuicidal groups in feelings toward the body,…

The associations among suicidal behavior, negative affect, and delinquency were assessed via an anonymous self-report survey administered to male and female college students ( N = 383). Contrary to our hypothesized results, there were no gender differences in rates of suicidal ideation and attempts. Confirming our hypotheses about gender…

Data from therapists who were treating 26 patients when they committed suicide were utilized to identify warning signs. Problems in communication between patient and therapist were identified as factors interfering with crisis recognition. Evaluation of the identified affects and behaviors may help therapists recognize a suicide crisis. (BF)

Examined Modified Scale for Suicide Ideation (MSSI) scores for 198 suicidal men during suicidal crisis, prior to entry into treatment study, and again at 1-month and 12-month follow ups. Found evidence for decreased suicidality, but this was interpreted as the gradual action of interpersonal support, rather than as emotional catharsis. (BF)

Presents a case-control study of the association between nearly lethal suicide attempts and facets of alcohol consumption; namely, drinking frequency, drinking quantity, binge drinking, alcoholism, drinking within 3 hours of suicide attempt, and age began drinking. In bivariate analyses, all measures were associated with nearly lethal suicide…

Suicide proneness and self-destruction scales, together with measures of self-favorability and self-confidence, were administered to two samples (n=106 and n=213). It is suggested that women are self-destructive in passive ways, reflecting their lack of self-favorability and confidence and manifested by failure to react to everyday situations in…