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General | Adolescents | Public Awareness | Veterans | Clinicians | Substance Abuse | Psychiatric Disorders | LGBT | Training

General

• A Suicide Prevention Program in a Region With a Very High Suicide Rate
  Katalin Szanto, M.D.; Sandor Kalmar, M.D.; Herbert Hendin, M.D.; Zoltan Rihmer, M.D., PhD, DSc; J. John Mann, M.D.
  Researchers determine the effectiveness of a depression-management educational program for general practitioners (GPs) on the suicide rate in a region with a highsuicide rate in Hungary.
• Do Geographic Regions with Higher Suicide Rates also have Higher Rates of Nonfatal Intentional Self-Harm?
  Classen, Carmody, et al.
  Study finds a correlation between completed suicide rate and and rate of self-harming behaviors among 8 states from 1999-2004.
• Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert
  A follow-up report on preventing suicide: Focus on medical/surgical units and the emergency department.
• Online Postvention Manual
  Guidelines for how to safely manage a person's online social media profile after a suicide.
• Preventing Suicide Is Hard to Do!
  Eric D. Caine, M.D.
  The reports on suicide in this issue present llessons for all of us and present what the author has recognized as five major challenges in suicide prevention.
• Prevention of Suicide and Attempted Suicide in Denmark. Epidemiological Studies of Suicide and Intervention Studies in Selected Risk Groups.
  Nordentoft M.
  The suicide rates in Denmark have been declining during the last two decades; study investigates the role of various factors that contribute to suicide and it's rates of decline.
• Rebuilding the Tower of Babel: A Revised Nomenclature for the Study of Suicide and Suicidal Behaviors
  Morton M. Silverman, et al.
  Authors attempt to change the way we speak and the language used to discuss suicide.
• Repressive Coping, Emotional Adjustment, and Cognition in People Who have Lost Loved Ones to Suicide
  Parker, Holly A., PhD, McNally, Richard J, PhD
  An assessment of cognitive ability and mental health among individuals who lost a loved one to suicide, suggesting that repressive coping may encourage greater emotional health during bereavement.
• Sleep problems, suicidal ideation, and self-harm behaviors in adolescence
  Maria M. Wong, Kirk J. Brower, Robert A. Zucker
  Study finds that having trouble sleeping was a strong predictor of subsequent suicidal thoughts and selfharm behaviors in adolescence.
• Study links suicide and lack of sleep in teens
  Zuckerman, Laura
  Teenagers who thought about or attempted suicide were more likely to have suffered sleep disorders in earlier years, researchers say.
• Subtle Politics of Suicide Rates
  Elected coroners identify fewer suicides in their counties than their appointed counterparts, a new study finds possible evidence of the stigma attached to self-killing, according to the authors.
  Christopher Shea
• Suicide and Stigma: A Review of the Literature and Personal Reflections
  Howard Sudak, M.D., Karen Maxim, M.S., R.N., Maryellen Carpenter
  Highly stigmatized, the authors review studies of the effects and implications of the taboo subject of suicide.
• Suicide and the Internet
  Lucy Biddle, et al.
  With the dramatic impact the internet has on our everyday lives, the authors search into the effect it has on suicidal behavior.
• Suicide Prevention Strategies: A Systematic Review
  J. John Mann; Alan Apter; Jose Bertolote; et al.
  Mann, et al. provide an overview of the scope and depth of the myriad of suicide prevention strategies.

Adolescents

• An Outcome Evaluation of the Sources of Strength Suicide Prevention Program Delivered by Adolescent Peer Leaders in High Schools
  Peter A. Wyman, PhD, C. Hendricks Brown, PhD, Mark LoMurray, BA, Karen Schmeelk-Cone, PhD, Mariya Petrova, BA, Qin Yu, PhD, Erin Walsh, M.S., Xin Tu, PhD, and Wei Wang, PhD
  Examining the effectiveness of the Sources of Strength suicide prevention program in high school students
• Attitudes and Beliefs of Adolescents and Parents Regarding Adolescent Suicide
  Kimberly A. Schwartz, M.D., Sara A. Pyle, PhD, et al.
  Study finds that both adolescents and their parents recognized suicide as a major problem, but not within their own communities, shedding light on the need for more resources and information.
• Columbia Classification Algorithm of Suicide Assessment (C-CASA): Classification of Suicidal Events in the FDA's Pediatric Suicidal Risk Analysis of Antidepressants
  Kelly Posner; Maria A Oquendo; Madelyn Gould; Barbara Stanley; Mark Davies
  Study finds that suicidal risk may not be raised by the use of antidepressants in youth, contrary to past findings.
• Frameworks: A Community-based Approach to Preventing Youth Suicide
  Kristine Baber & Gretchen Bean
  This study evaluated the pilot implementation of a community-based youth suicide prevention project guided by an ecological perspective.
• High School Bullying as a Risk for Later Depression and Suicidality
  Madelyn S. Gould, et. al
  The first study to examine whether high school students experiencing frequent bullying behaviors are at risk for later depression and suicidality.
• Inspire 2 Young Americans
  Courtesy reachout.org
  Reachout provides hope for suicidal youth, and provides suggestions on effective suicide prevention strategies.
• Mental Health Service Use Among Suicidal Adolescents: Findings From a US National Community Survey
  Wu, Katic, et al.
  Reports findings that less than half of the suicidal adolescents surveyed had received any mental health services within the past year of the interview.
• Peer Victimization, Depression, and Suicidality in Adolescents
  Brunstein Klomek, PhD, Anat Brunstein Klomek, PhD, et al.
  Examination of the association between specific types of peer victimization with depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among high-school students.
• Psychological and/or Educational Interventions for the Prevention of Depression in Children and Adolescents.
  Merry S, McDowell H, Hetrick S, Bir J, Muller N.
  Authors determine whether psychological and/or educational interventions (both universal and targeted) are effective in reducing risk of depressive disorder by reducing depressive symptoms immediately after intervention or by preventing the onset of depressive disorder in children and adolescents over the next one to three years.
• Suicide Prevention with Adolescents Considering Potential Benefits and Untoward Effects of Public Service Announcements
  Bonnie Klimes-Dougan, Chih-Yuan, Steven Lee, and Alaa K. Houri
  Study investigates the positive and negative impact of public service announcements in terms of suicide prevention in adolescents.
• Suicide Screening in Schools, Primary Care and Emergency Departments
  Lisa M. Horowitz, Elizabeth D. Ballard, and Maryland Pao
  Early identification of suicide risk may be an important method of mitigating this public health crisis. Valid, brief and easy-to-administer screening tools can be utilized to detect risk of suicide in children and adolescents.
• The Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Suicide Prevention Program
  David B. Goldston, et al.
  In response to calls for greater efforts to reduce youth suicide, the Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Memorial Act has provided funding for 68 state, territory, and tribal community grants, and 74 college campus grants for suicide prevention efforts.
• The Role of Randomized Trials in Testing Interventions for the Prevention of Youth Suicide
  Hendricks Brown, Peter A. Wyman, Joseph M. Brinales, and Robert D. Gibbons.
  Review of existing suicide prevention trials and introduction of two new randomized trial designs that are likely to achieve sufficient statistical power.
• The Scope of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury on YouTube
  Lewis, Stephen P., Heath, Nancy L., St Denis, Jill M., and Rick Noble
  With more youth using video-sharing Web sites, such as YouTube, nonsuicidal self-injury–themed videos may be normalized and reinforced among youth who self-injure.

Public Awareness

• Brief Report: Preliminary Results of a Suicide Awareness Mass Media Campaigns
  Richard J Oliver; James C Spilsbury; Scott S Osiecki; William M Denihan; et al.
  Provides insight into the effectiveness of Mass Media Suicide Prevention campaigns
• Public Awareness Campaigns About Depression and Suicide: A Review
  Hélène Dumesnil, M.S., Pierre Verger, M.D., M.S.
  Review of research surrounding suicide, and it's major risk-factor: depression.
• Public Awareness Campaign Lowers Male Suicides in German City
  Sharyn Alden
  Researchers share their findings of successful public awareness campaigns in German males.
• Suicide Prevention with Adolescents Considering Potential Benefits and Untoward Effects of Public Service Announcements
  Bonnie Klimes-Dougan, Chih-Yuan, Steven Lee, and Alaa K. Houri
  Study investigates the positive and negative impact of public service announcements in terms of suicide prevention in adolescents.
• The Development of Effective Message Content for Suicide Intervention: Theory of Planned Behavior.
  Shemanski Aldrich R, Cerel J.
  Presents the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a foundation to increase understanding of what message content would be most effective to convince an individual to intervene when someone is suicidal and finds that a key element to suicide prevention is intervention by close others.

Veterans

• Higher-Risk Periods for Suicide Among VA Patients Receiving Depression Treatment: Prioritizing Suicide Prevention Efforts.
  Marcia Valenstein, et al.
  Researchers suggest the most important considerations in suicide prevention with vets, identifying depression treatment as a critical contribution to risk-reduction.

Clinicians

• Completed Suicide in Medical/Surgical Patients: Who is at Risk?
  J. Michael Bostwick, Sandra J. Rackley
  Highlights the porous boundary between traditional psychiatric units and medical/surgical units, where half of consults were for individuals admitted for medical stabilization after a suicide attempt outside the hospital.
• Continuity of Care for Suicide Prevention and Research
  A comprehensive report offering recommendations for the ongoing care of patients at risk for suicide who have been treated in emergency departments and hospitals.
• Johns Hopkins Team Identifies Genetic Link to Attempted Suicide.
  A study of thousands of people with bipolar disorder suggests that genetic risk factors may influence the decision to attempt suicide.
• Mobile Crisis Team Intervention to Enhance Linkage of Discharged Suicidal Emergency Department Patients to Outpatient Psychiatric Services: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
  Currier GW, Fisher SG, Caine ED.
  Community-based mobile outreach was a highly effective method of contacting suicidal patients who were discharged from the ED. However, establishing initial postdischarge contact in the community versus the clinic did not prove more effective at enhancing symptomatic or functional outcomes, nor did successful linkage with outpatient psychiatric care.
• Suicide-Related Events in Patients Treated with Anti-Epileptic Drugs
  Arana, Wentworth, et al.
  Study's findings don't confirm the FDA's assertion that there is an increased risk of suicidality associated with antiepileptic drugs.
• The Suicide Prevention Contract: Contracting for Comfort
  Knoll, James, IV, MD
  Article questions the effectiveness of "no-suicide contracts" in the prevention of suicide deaths.

Substance Abuse

• Patterns and Correlates of Attempted Suicide by Heroin Users Over a 3-year Period: Findings from the Australian Treatment Outcome Study
  Darke, Ross, et al.
  While suicide rates among heroin users are higher than the general population, this study found significant declines in suicide rates across the 3 years of follow-up treatment.
• Suicide Attempts within 12 Months of Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
  Britton, PhD, Conner, PsyD
  Studies patients during a particularly high risk of suicide-attempt-risk, during the months following treatment for substance abuse disorders.

Psychiatric Disorders

• Cross-National Analysis of the Associations among Mental Disorders and Suicidal Behavior: Findings from the WHO Mental Health Services
  Nock, Hwang, et al.
  Study finds that the strongest behavioral predictors of suicide attempts among those with suicidal ideations, were mental disorders characterized by anxiety and impulse-control problems.
• Depression and Suicide Ideation Among Students Accessing Campus Health Care
  Mackenzie, et al.
  This article presents data from the College Health Intervention Projects on the frequency of depression and suicide ideation among 1,622 college students who accessed primary care services in 4 university clinics.
• Depression Care Effort Brings Dramatic Drop in Large HMO Population's Suicide Rate
  Hampton, Tracy, PhD
  While physicians and other health care workers may not be able to predict which of their patients will attempt suicide, they can implement preventive strategies that markedly lower the risk of such tragedies.
• Mortality of Geriatric and Younger Patients with Schizophrenia in the Community
  Ran, Chan, Chen, et al.
  Study finds patients with schizophrenia in all age groups had a marked increase in mortality and suicide, and provides specific intervention strategies for different age groups.
• Suicide-Related Behavior After Psychiatric Hospital Discharge: Implications for Risk Assessment and Management
  Skeem, Jennifer L., et al.
  Study follows psychiatric patients who exhibited suicide-related behavior after their discharge to provide suggestions for follow-up care.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender

• Suicide and Suicide Risk in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations: Review and Recommendations
  Haas, Ann P., et al.
  This article is a culmination of a three-year effort by an expert panel to address the need for better understanding of suicidal behavior and suicide risk in sexual minority populations, and stimulate the development of needed prevention strategies, interventions and policy changes.

Training

• An Evaluation of Suicide Gatekeeper Training for School Counselors and Teachers
  Carli Reis, M.Ed. and Dewey Cornell, Ph.D.
  The study in this article compared counselors and teachers on measures of suicide knowledge and prevention practices after participation in a statewide training program in student suicide prevention using the "Question, Persuade, and Refer" program.
• Control-Group Study of an Intervention Training Program for Youth Suicide Prevention.
  Chagnon F, Houle J, Marcoux I, Renaud J.
  Study attempts to verify the effectiveness of such an intervention training program for youth suicide prevention on helper competency.
• Does a Brief Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training Program Enhance Observed Skills?
  Cross, Wendi; Matthieu, Monica M.; Lezine, DeQuincy; Knox, Kerry L.
  Study aims to assess and to predict the impact of a brief, gatekeeper training on community members' observed skills.
• Does a Brief Training on Suicide Prevention Among General Hospital Personnel Impact Their Baseline Attitudes Towards Suicidal Behavior?
  Berlim MT, Perizzolo J, Lejderman F, Fleck MP, Joiner TE.
  Evaluates a brief training program on suicide prevention for front-line general hospital personnel in terms of its impact on their attitudes and beliefs towards suicidality.
• Does a Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Program Work in a School Setting? Evaluating Training Outcome and Moderators of Effectiveness
  Tanya L. Tompkins PhD, Jody Witt MA, Nadia Abraibesh
  The current study sought to evaluate the suicide prevention gatekeeper training program QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) among school personnel using a non-equivalent control group design. Substantial gains were demonstrated from pre- to post-test for attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs regarding suicide and suicide prevention.
• Evaluation of Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention in Veterans
  Monica M. Matthieu; Wendi Cross; Alfonso R. Batres, Charles M. Flora, Kerry L. Knox
  Gatekeeper training for suicide prevention shows promise for increasing the capacity of VA staff to work with at risk veterans.
• Gatekeeper Training as a Preventative Intervention for Suicide: A Systematic Review.
  Isaac, M., et al.
  Reviews the state of the evidence on gatekeeper training for suicide prevention and proposes directions for further research.
• Gatekeeper Training for Caregivers and Professionals: A Variation on Suicide Prevention
  Swanke, Jayme Rae & Buila, Sarah Melinda Dobie
  Gatekeeper training is not a new strategy for suicide prevention but the inclusion of caregivers of persons with mental illness, such as family and friends is a more recent phenomenon.
• Maintained Attitudinal Changes in Nursing Personnel After a Brief Training on Suicide Prevention
  Neury J. Botega MD, PhD, et al.
  Study indicates there were positive changes in attitudes and these gains were significantly maintained after nursing personnel attended a training program on suicide prevention.
• Proximate Outcomes of Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention in the Workplace
  Wendi Cross PhD, Monica M. Matthieu PhD, LCSW, Julie Cerel
  Report on proximate outcomes of a 1-hour community gatekeeper training in-service for 76 nonclinical employees in a university hospital workplace setting.
• Randomized Trial of a Gatekeeper Program for Suicide Prevention: 1-year Impact on Secondary School Staff.
  Wyman PA, Brown CH, Inman J, Cross W, Schmeelk-Cone K, Guo J, Pena JB.
  A group-based randomized trial with 32 schools examined impact of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training on a stratified random sample of 249 staff with 1-year average follow-up.
• Review of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Program (ASIST)
  Rodgers, P.
  The purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive review of ASIST evaluation results.
• The Assessment and Management of Suicide Risk: State of Workshop Education
  Anthony R. Pisani PhD, Wendi F. Cross PhD, Madelyn S. Gould PhD, MPH
  Survey of workshop developers and examination of empirical articles associated with workshops that addressed general clinical competence in the assessment or management of suicide risk, targeted mental health professionals, and had at least one peer-reviewed publication.
• The Short-Term Effectiveness of a Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training Program in a College Setting with Residence Life Advise
  Tompkins, T. L., & Witt, J.
  The current study examined the short-term effects of Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR).
• Training Outcomes from the Samaritans of New York Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program among Community- and School-Based Staff
  Tanisha R. Clark, Monica M. Matthieu*, Alan Ross and Kerry L. Knox
  Follows community- and school-based staff completed pre- and post-training measures of self-efficacy regarding their knowledge about suicide and suicide prevention and their ability to intervene with individuals at risk for suicide after Samaritan training.