Suicide is currently the third leading cause of death for adolescents ages 15- 24. While much attention has been given to this topic, no research has examined what specific information is being taught to pre-service school counselors. The purpose of this descriptive study was to evaluate the pre-service suicide prevention training in CACREP accredited school counseling programs. Fifteen areas of suicide prevention were assessed. The participants were 89 CACREP accredited programs. The instrument utilized was entitled Suicide Prevention Survey, and included fifteen areas of suicide prevention that could be included in program curriculum. The results were analyzed using frequencies and measures of central tendency. Respondents to the survey indicated that no CACREP programs offer a required course in suicide prevention. However, the issues of suicide were reported as being addressed in 39 different required and elective courses. Four percent (n=9) of the programs reported covering all fifteen categories included in the survey. One program reported coverage in area of suicide was non-existent. Implications for CACREP accredited programs as well as recommendations for future research is given. / Graduation date: 2003

The suicide of a loved one is a traumatic life event that brings considerable emotional suffering. In the present study, the term suicide survivor refers to an individual bereaved though suicide. In the aftermath of their loss, some suicide survivors become peer counsellors and thereby draw on their painful experiences to provide assistance to others bereaved in this manner. Although these individuals play an important supportive role, little is known about their experiences with doing this kind of volunteer work. This study sought to explore the phenomenon of peer counselling in suicide bereavement by addressing the question, what are the lived experiences of suicide survivors who become peer counsellors? The purpose of the study was to understand how these individuals conceptualize their volunteer work and how their volunteerism may affect their own ongoing healing from the loss to suicide. Participants were 15 individuals bereaved through suicide who had been volunteering with others bereaved in the same manner for at least two years. This research employed a qualitative phenomenological methodology to provide a detailed description of participants’ journeys that went from experiencing the suicide of a loved one, to the decision to become a peer counsellor, to, finally, providing support to other survivors. The findings suggest that participants understand the provision of peer counselling as a transformative process. As a result of their volunteering, they undergo personal growth and acquire new skills. They conceptualize providing peer counselling as reaching out to other survivors of suicide and thereby countering the loneliness and isolation of suicide bereavement. For the participants, being a peer counsellor means actively challenging the silence around suicide by speaking out about suicide-related issues and offering other survivors a safe space to share their stories. The broader implications of these findings for suicide postvention research and clinical practice are addressed.

Prior research has established that a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases the risk of suicide behavior. Few studies have examined the role of specific PTSD symptom clusters and suicide attempts. The current study is among a handful of studies that have examined the association between the presence of PTSD symptom clusters and suicide attempts among Veterans with PTSD and/or TBI. The study utilized archival data from a sample of 137 Veterans receiving mental health treatment at the Denver Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that PTSD symptom clusters were not associated with an increased risk for suicide behavior among individuals with and without a history of TBI. Results suggest that looking at the presence of PTSD symptoms is not sufficient to account for the risk of suicide behavior. Clinical and research implications on the need to examine the role of PTSD symptom severity and suicide behavior are discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Johns Hopkins University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-209). Also available via the Internet.

Texte remanié de: Habilitationsschrift--Fakultät Geisteswissenschaften (Fachbereich 1)--Berlin--Technische Universität, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 389-407.

Dissertation--Lüneburg--Universität Lüneburg, 2007. / Bibliogr. p. 165-174.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Psychiatry / Master / Master of Philosophy

This study reviewed 166 articles related to suicidality in South Africa, published between 1952 and 2003. From these, a table of summarized information was created and then coded. Thereafter, a statistical content analysis was conducted. The results suggested that the field of suicidology requires further specific research into suicidal ideation and murder-suicides. Blacks are under-represented and Indians are over-represented in the publications. The representation of Coloureds in South African suicide research is negligible. Increased research efforts could focus on suicidality (especially suicidal ideation) in relation to masculinity and use male-only samples. There is a need for research to focus on prevention and intervention and to increase the use of qualitative methodologies. These suggestions may prevent the duplication of well-researched areas and refine future research agendas. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

This qualitative study attempted to develop a process theory of suicidal behaviour. The Arthur Inman diary, which documents the thoughts and feelings of a suicidal individual (Arthur Crew Inman) who eventually died by suicide, was the primary data source from which the theory emerged. Aspects of the qualitative grounded theory procedure were used to develop the theory. Purposeful intensity sampling, theoretical sampling, open and discriminant sampling were applied at different stages of the research process. In addition, the constant comparative method, which forms the hallmark of grounded theory procedures, was an integral part of the analytic procedure. The emergent process theory, which was firmly grounded in the primary data source and extant literature sources, hopefully offers a new paradigm within which suicidal behaviour can be understood. It proposes the processional aspects of suicide and puts forward phases, which a potentially suicidal individual goes through. It thus attempts to bridge a major gap in the study of suicidal behaviour by providing dynamic pathways that link vulnerability to suicide with the suicide act. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

The current study tested a component of the social disconnection model (Hewitt, Flett, Sherry, & Caelian, 2006) by determining whether the interpersonal components of perfectionism and suicide outcomes in youth are mediated by experiences of being bullied, a marker of social disconnection. The perfectionism trait of socially prescribed perfectionism and the perfectionistic self-presentation facets, suicide outcomes, and experiences of being bullied were measured in a heterogeneous sample of 152 psychiatric outpatient youth, aged 8 to 20 (mean = 12.87, SD = 2.97; 83 males, 69 females). The current study found evidence in support of the social disconnection model whereby the perfectionistic self-presentation facet, nondisplay of imperfection, and suicide outcomes were mediated by experiences of being bullied. Implications of self presentational components of perfectionism and social disconnection in suicide outcomes for youth are discussed, in terms of both their conceptual and clinical significance.