scholarly journals Reflecting on suicide: lessons from my time at Harvard

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-50
Author(s):  
Mayowa Oyesanya
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
American University ◽  
University Professor ◽  
Suicide Risk Factors ◽  
Better Than

More than a year ago I was sat in my room watching an American university professor demonstrating a computerised test on a tablet to one of his interns. His name was Matthew Nock and he was a professor of psychology at Harvard University and a world expert on suicide research. The computerised test was and still is called the Suicide Implicit Association Test (S-IAT) and Professor Nock hoped he was on the brink of a breakthrough in suicide risk prediction research. I was sceptical. How could a brief computerised test predict future suicide attempts better than already known suicide risk factors and the expert opinion of a psychiatrist? It was at this moment that I was convinced that I would have to spend some time in Professor Nock's lab at Harvard in order to get the inside story.

scholarly journals Do risk factors for suicidal behavior differ by affective disorder polarity?

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 763-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Fiedorowicz ◽  
A. C. Leon ◽  
M. B. Keller ◽  
D. A. Solomon ◽  
J. P. Rice ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Suicidal Behavior ◽  
Active Substance ◽  
Affective Disorders ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Suicide Risk Factors

BackgroundSuicide is a leading cause of death and has been strongly associated with affective disorders. The influence of affective disorder polarity on subsequent suicide attempts or completions and any differential effect of suicide risk factors by polarity were assessed in a prospective cohort.MethodParticipants with major affective disorders in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Collaborative Depression Study (CDS) were followed prospectively for up to 25 years. A total of 909 participants meeting prospective diagnostic criteria for major depressive and bipolar disorders were followed through 4204 mood cycles. Suicidal behavior was defined as suicide attempts or completions. Mixed-effects, grouped-time survival analysis assessed risk of suicidal behavior and differential effects of risk factors for suicidal behavior by polarity. In addition to polarity, the main effects of age, gender, hopelessness, married status, prior suicide attempts and active substance abuse were modeled, with mood cycle as the unit of analysis.ResultsAfter controlling for age of onset, there were no differences in prior suicide attempts by polarity although bipolar participants had more prior severe attempts. During follow-up, 40 cycles ended in suicide and 384 cycles contained at least one suicide attempt. Age, hopelessness and active substance abuse but not polarity predicted suicidal behavior. The effects of risk factors did not differ by polarity.ConclusionsBipolarity does not independently influence risk of suicidal behavior or alter the influence of well-established suicide risk factors within affective disorders. Suicide risk assessment strategies may continue to appraise these common risk factors without regard to mood polarity.

Suicide Risk on Twitter

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samah Jamal Fodeh ◽  
Edwin D. Boudreaux ◽  
Rixin Wang ◽  
Dennis Silva ◽  
Robert Bossarte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Social Media ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Language Patterns ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Suicide Risk Factors ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Use Of Social Media

While many studies have explored the use of social media and behavioral changes of individuals, few examined the utility of using social media for suicide detection and prevention. The study by Jashinsky et al. identified specific language patterns associated with a set of twelve suicide risk factors. The authors extended these methods to assess the significance of the language used on Twitter for suicide detection. This article quantifies the use of Twitter to express suicide related language, and its potential to detect users at high risk of suicide. The authors searched Twitter for tweets indicative of 12 suicide risk factors. This paper divided Twitter users into two groups: “high risk” and “at risk” based on two of the risk factors (“self-harm” and “prior suicide attempts”) and examined language patterns by computing co-occurrences of terms in tweets which helped identify relationships between suicide risk factors in both groups.

The death-implicit association test and suicide attempts: a systematic review and meta-analysis of discriminative and prospective utility

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Maya N. Sohn ◽  
Carly A. McMorris ◽  
Signe Bray ◽  
Alexander McGirr
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Suicidal Behaviour ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Implicit Association ◽  
Suicide Risk Assessment ◽  
History Of

Abstract Suicide risk assessment involves integrating patient disclosure of suicidal ideation and non-specific risk factors such as family history, past suicidal behaviour, and psychiatric symptoms. A death version of the implicit association test (D-IAT) has been developed to provide an objective measure of the degree to which the self is affiliated with life or death. However, this has inconsistently been associated with past and future suicidal behaviour. Here, we systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the literature examining the D-IAT and suicide attempts. We searched psychINFO, Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from inception until 9 February 2021 to identify publications reporting D-IAT scores and suicide attempts (PROSPERO; CRD42020194394). Using random-effects models, we calculated standardized mean differences (SMD) and odds ratios (ORs) for retrospective suicide attempts. We then calculated ORs for future suicide attempts. ORs were dichotomized using a cutoff of zero representing equipoise between self-association with life and death. Eighteen studies met our inclusion criteria (n = 9551). The pooled SMD revealed higher D-IAT scores in individuals with a history of suicide attempt (SMD = 0.25, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.35); however, subgroup analyses demonstrated heterogeneity with acute care settings having lower effect sizes than community settings. Dichotomized D-IAT scores discriminated those with a history of suicide attempt from those without (OR 1.38 95% CI 1.01 to 1.89) and predicted suicide attempt over a six-month follow-up period (OR 2.99 95% CI 1.45 to 6.18; six studies, n = 781). The D-IAT may have a supplementary role in suicide risk assessment; however, determination of acute suicide risk and related clinical decisions should not be based solely on D-IAT performance.

Comparing Suicide Risk Factors Among Individuals with a History of Aborted, Interrupted, and Actual Suicide Attempts

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (sup1) ◽  
pp. 57-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan L. Rogers ◽  
Melanie A. Hom ◽  
Sean P. Dougherty ◽  
Austin J. Gallyer ◽  
Thomas E. Joiner
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Actual Suicide ◽  
Suicide Risk Factors

Exposure to suicidal behaviors: A common suicide risk factor or a personal negative life event?

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith M Harris ◽  
Silvana Bettiol
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Latent Trait ◽  
Negative Life Event ◽  
Suicidal Behaviors ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Suicide Risk Factors

Background: Numerous suicide risk factors have been proposed but not adequately validated for epidemiology, treatment and prevention efforts. Aims: Exposures to suicidal behaviors (ESB), from family and friend suicide attempts and completions, were tested for validity as a suicidal risk factor and also for measurement and construct adequacy. Methods: An anonymous online survey yielded 713 participants (aged 18–71), who reported ESB, completed the Suicidal Affect-Behavior-Cognition Scale (SABCS), and comprised a broad spectrum on those variables. Results: Tests of dimensionality and internal consistency showed the four ESB variables (attempts/completions through family/friends) were independent and did not form a common factor or an identifiable ESB latent trait. ESB variables were, however, associated with demographic and psychiatric histories. A battery of tests revealed no meaningful associations between ESB and total suicidality or suicide risk factors (social support, depression, anxiety, stress, satisfaction with life and emotional stability). In addition, in contrast to previous reports, young adults ( n = 200; aged 18–20) showed no increased suicidality due to ESB. Conclusion: Results showed no validity for ESB as a common risk factor for suicidality or other psychopathology, or as a latent trait. ESB showed evidence as a personal negative life event with individual effects and interpretations.

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