Often in sociology, researchers are confronted with nonnormal variables whose joint distribution they wish to explore. Yet, assumptions of common measures of dependence can fail or estimating such dependence is computationally intensive. This article presents the copula method for modeling the joint distribution of two random variables, including…

The Harkavy-Asnis Suicide Scale (HASS), one of the few self-report scales assessing suicidal behavior was evaluated and ideation, was evaluated and predictors of suicide attempts (SAs) were identified with the goal of developing a model that clinicians can use for monitoring SA risk. Participants were 131 pediatric emergency department (ED)…

Suicide ideation among the homeless is 10 times more common than in the general population. Cognitive theories of depression and hopelessness propose to explain suicidality; however, as yet, none of these fully account for the phenomenon. Shneidman has suggested a theory of psychache or unbearable psychological pain to explain suicidality. This…

Runaway and homeless youth often have a constellation of background behavioral, emotional, and familial problems that contribute to stress and maladaptive behaviors, which, in turn, can lead to self-harming and suicidal behaviors. The current study examined the roles of stress and maladaptive behaviors as mediators between demographic and…

Location of suicide is a neglected area in suicidology, but is important because location is related to the presence of motivated rescuers who can prevent suicides. The present study analyzes the predictors of suicide in a location that is apt to be free of motivated rescuers: the motel room. Data from the files of a medical examiner in a…

Our aim was to build a model delineating the relationship between attitudes toward suicide and suicidal behavior and to assess equivalence by applying the model on data from different countries. Representative samples from the general population were approached in Sweden, Norway, and Russia with the Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS) questionnaire.…

A growing body of literature documents the frequency and magnitude of adolescent suicide. Because of the difficulties inherent to the nature of suicide, ascertaining the actual frequency of suicidal completions, attempts, and ideation is extremely difficult. Although there have been many attempts to isolate the correlates and causal factors of…

This study explored clinical and nonclinical predictors of inpatient hospital admission decisions across a sample of children in foster care over 4 years (N = 13,245). Forty-eight percent of participants were female and the mean age was 13.4 (SD = 3.5 years). Optimal data analysis (Yarnold & Soltysik, 2005) was used to construct a nonlinear…

Surveys 162 self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals with regard to suicidal behaviors, suicide risk factors, and reasons for living. Approximately 41% of the respondents indicated a serious consideration of suicide including the identification of a specific suicide plan or a past suicide attempt with significant intent to die.…

A current focus in evaluating suicide risk is the "clinical model" approach, which determines those factors associated with high risk for suicide. The sociological factors identified as estimators of suicide risk included impaired health, job instability, multiple unit residence, no change in living setting, and modest financial resources. (JAC)

Investigates potential predictors of suicidal behavior in adolescent psychiatric patients (N=60) during an 18-month follow-up period. Follow-up suicidality was most strongly predicted by high intake levels of hopelessness, and an increase in or persistent problems with depression. Proposes a model in which the impact of family functioning on…

Investigates risk factors for current suicidality in clients diagnosed with schizophrenia (N=223). Results indicate that severity of depressive symptoms most strongly correlated with degree of suicidality. Younger age and recent traumatic stress each significantly predicted suicidality independent of depressive symptoms. Suggests that the…

People with bipolar disorder are at high suicide risk. The literature suggests that suicidality is predicted by higher symptom severity and less use of pharmacological agents, but few studies have examined the joint contributions of these variables. The present study examines the conjoint contribution of symptom severity and pharmacological…

Two theoretical models were constructed to illustrate how stressful events, family and friends support, depression, substance use, and death attitude mutually influence to create cumulative risks for suicide. The models were evaluated using structural equation modeling. Results showed that suicidality was strongly predicted by death attitude,…

This study tested a model of suicidal ideation with family cohesion, expressiveness, conflicts, teacher support, teacher-student relationships and peer support as antecedents, and self-esteem and depression as mediators. Data was collected from survey questionnaires with 433 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. The results showed that only family…