In the present study, we examined the role of racial discrimination, social support (viz., family and friends), and hope (viz., agency and pathways) in accounting for negative psychological adjustment (viz., anxious and depressive symptoms) and positive psychological adjustment (viz., vitality and life satisfaction) in a sample of 249 African Americans. Overall, results of conducting a series of hierarchical regression analyses provided some evidence for the role of racial discrimination and social support in accounting for both negative and positive psychological adjustment. Noteworthy, the inclusion of hope was found to significantly augment the prediction models of psychological adjustment. Within the hope set, agency was consistently found to uniquely account for adjustment. In contrast, pathways was only found to uniquely account for vitality. Beyond affirming the importance of racial discrimination and social support, the present findings highlight the added value of considering hope, especially agency, in understanding positive and negative psychological adjustment in African Americans. Implications of the present findings for understanding the role of racial discrimination, social support, and hope in the psychological adjustment of African American adults are discussed.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disorder marked by inflammation of the central nervous system, is associated with a myriad of symptoms. Individuals with MS are more likely to experience depressive symptoms, perhaps due to perceived cognitive impairments. Thus, we aimed to explore perceived stress and sleep deficits as potential mediators of the association between perceived cognitive deficits and depressive symptoms. We recruited a sample of 77 MS participants from an outpatient, university-based MS clinic in the United States. Participants ranged in age between 30 and 75 years old (M = 51.12; SD = 9.6), with more females than males (83% female; n = 64). Participants completed the Perceived Deficits Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale – Revised. Correlation analyses and mediation analyses were conducted with bootstrapping technique. Statistical analyses revealed that higher levels of perceived cognitive deficits were associated with lower quality of sleep, more perceived stress, and higher levels of depressive symptoms. Additionally, both perceived stress and sleep quality served as a significant mediator in the perceived cognitive impairments and depressive symptoms linkage. Our novel findings demonstrate the importance of underlying mechanisms (e.g., sleep quality and perceived stress) in the conceptualization of MS. Perceived stress and sleep quality are potentially modifiable factors, perhaps serving as a target for future treatment, to buffer risk of MS patients developing depression.

The present study examined differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls on anger rumination, mental health and quality of life and tested anger rumination as a mediator of patient–control differences in mental health and quality of life. Participants were a propensity score‐matched sample of 58 fibromyalgia patients and 58 healthy controls. Participants completed measures of anger rumination, depression and anxiety and quality of life. Patients were higher than controls on all anger rumination scales and depression and anxiety and lower on quality of life. All anger rumination scales were related to poorer mental health and quality of life. Patient–control differences on mental health and quality of life were mediated by anger rumination. In multiple mediator models, the only subscale with unique mediating effects was anger memories. Anger rumination has potent associations with mental health and quality of life, and differences between patients and controls on mental health and quality of life are partially mediated by differences in anger rumination. Addressing tendencies to ruminate on anger experiences in the care of fibromyalgia patients may offer an important avenue to improved health and quality of life.

Adults of college age are at particular risk for psychopathology, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicidal behavior, but protective factors (e.g., self-compassion) may buffer risk. We examined the mediating effect of NSSI on the relation between anxiety/depressive symptoms and suicide risk, and the moderating role of self-compassion. Students (N = 338) with greater psychopathology reported more engagement in NSSI and, consequently, more suicide risk; self-compassion weakened the psychopathology-NSSI linkage. Therapeutically addressing psychopathology and NSSI, perhaps via Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and promoting self-compassion via compassion-focused and mindful self-compassion therapy, may halt progression from symptomology to self-harm, ultimately reducing suicide risk in college students.

We examined the role of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the association between future orientation and depressive symptoms in a sample of 202 (159 female and 43 male) multiethnoracial adults. Multiple mediation analysis with 10,000 bootstraps was conducted to test for mediation. The association between future orientation and depressive symptoms was found to be accounted for by dimensions of basic psychological needs. Specifically, future orientation was negatively related to depressive symptoms through positive associations involving autonomy and competence, but not relatedness. The present findings are the first to not only point to the importance of examining future orientation in understanding depressive symptoms in multiethnoracial adults, but they are also the first to suggest possible mechanisms by which believing in a changeable future might foster stronger satisfaction of basic psychological needs, especially autonomy and competence, that might help multiethnoracials garner greater protection when encountering stressful situations in their lives.

Objectives: Despite the toll of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on adjustment, many patients are resilient to the challenges associated with living with IBD, and successfully cope with their illness and thrive. Yet there is little research on why some individuals with IBD enter a trajectory of growth, while others may struggle to adapt. The aim of this study was to investigate the adjustment‐related factors that distinguished thriving, resilience, and loss in people with IBD across personal growth, life satisfaction, and relationship quality domains. Design: Prospective cohort design with two data collection points, 6 months apart. Methods: From a sample of 420 people with active IBD who completed an online survey, 152 participants completed the follow‐up survey and were included in the analyses. Participants completed measures of thriving, and cognitive, affective, social, and disease‐related variables known to predict adjustment. Results: Time 1 ANCOVAs and pairwise comparisons controlling for demographics distinguished loss from resilience and thriving on the four outcomes – coping efficacy, illness acceptance, depressive symptoms, and perceived social support – for all three domains. Time 2 ANCOVAs and pairwise comparisons controlling for baseline outcomes revealed that the Time thriving categories predicted differences in Time 2 adjustment, mainly for the life satisfaction domain, with those experiencing loss reporting poorer adjustment than those experiencing resilience and thriving. Conclusions: Findings highlight the distinctions among profiles of thriving, resilience, and loss in adjustment to IBD, and suggest that strategies that enhance coping and address depressive symptoms may optimize thriving in the context of IBD.

Background: Insomnia has been shown to have direct and indirect associations with suicidal ideation, attempts, and death in U.S. military and veteran populations. However, transdiagnostic models of insomnia and psychopathology have not been used to examine the contribution of psychopathology. Method: The present study is a secondary analysis examining the associations among insomnia symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, interpersonal theory of suicide variables, and risk for suicidal behavior in community veterans (n = 392). Serial mediation was used to test sequential associations, allowing for examination of direct and indirect associations. Results: The model with insomnia, PTSD, and depressive symptoms, and thwarted belongingness, accounted for 29% of the variance in risk. Insomnia symptoms had an indirect association through PTSD and depressive symptoms, and thwarted belongingness. The model with insomnia, PTSD, and depressive symptoms, and perceived burdensomeness accounted for 35% of the variance in risk. Insomnia symptoms had an indirect association through PTSD and depressive symptoms, and perceived burdensomeness. Limitations: Data are cross-sectional, precluding the testing of causal associations. Conclusions: In veterans, insomnia symptoms may be associated with increased PTSD and depressive symptoms, which may be associated with increased risk for suicidal behavior directly and indirectly through relationship disruptions.

Defines State Hope Scale.

Book Summary: This inspiring resource presents theories, findings, and interventions from Positive Suicidology, an emerging strengths-based approach to suicide prevention. Its synthesis of positive psychology and suicidology theories offers a science-based framework for promoting wellbeing to complement or, if appropriate, replace traditional deficit-driven theories and therapies used in reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Coverage reviews interpersonal, intrapersonal, and societal risk factors for suicide, and identifies protective factors, such as hope and resilience, that can be enhanced in therapy. From there, chapters detail a palette of approaches and applications of Positive Suicidology, from the powerful motivating forces described in Self-Determination Theory to meaning-building physical and social activities. Among the topics covered: Future-oriented constructs and their role in suicidal ideation and enactment. Gratitude as a protective factor for suicidal ideation and behavior: theory and evidence. Considering race and ethnicity in the use of positive psychological approaches to suicide. The Six R’s framework as mindfulness for suicide prevention. Community-based participatory research and empowerment for suicide prevention. Applied resiliency and suicide prevention: a strengths-based, risk-reduction framework. Psychotherapists, counselors, social workers, psychiatrists, and health psychologists, as well as educators, clergy and healthcare professionals, will find A Positive Psychological Approach to Suicide an invaluable source of contemporary evidence-based strategies for their prevention and intervention efforts with suicidal clients.

Emerging evidence indicates self-compassion can be beneficial for medical populations and for medical adherence; yet, research to date has not fully examined the reasons for this association. This study examined the association of dispositional self-compassion to adherence across five medical samples and tested the extent to which perceived stress accounted for this association. Five medical samples (total N = 709), including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and cancer patients, recruited from various sources, completed online surveys. Self-compassion was positively associated with adherence in all five samples. A meta-analysis of the associations revealed a small average effect size (average r = .22, [0.15, 0.29]) of self-compassion and adherence and non-significant heterogeneity among the effects (Q (4) = 3.15, p = .532). A meta-analysis of the kappa2 values from the indirect effects of self-compassion on adherence revealed that, on average, 11% of the variance in medical adherence that was explained by self-compassion could be attributed to lower perceived stress. Overall, findings demonstrate that dispositional self-compassion is associated with better medical adherence among people with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and cancer, due in part to lower stress. This research contributes to a growing evidence base indicating the value of self-compassion for health-related behaviours in a variety of medical populations.