Suicide ideation is a growing phenomenon that can be observed in stressful environments such as those of a correctional official, and it is a cause for concern. Suicide ideation is seen as the first step of suicidal behaviour and refers to thoughts, cognitions and overt intent to kill oneself. The root causes for correctional officials experiencing such a severe state of hopelessness that they feel death must be the only escape, can be ascribed to different factors. The objective of this research is to establish the relationship between psychological strengths, stress and suicide ideation of employees of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS). Three concepts of psychological strength namely locus of control, sense of coherence and affect as independent variables, were compared, with suicide ideation as a dependant variable. The relationship between suicide ideation and stress as an independent variable was also established. A cross-sectional design was used. A simple random sample (n=157) was taken from correctional officers from a management area in the Freestate Province. The Work Locus of Control Scale, Orientation to Life Questionnaire, Affectometer 2, and the Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire were administered. In addition, the Correctional Officer Stress Inventory was developed and administered. Principal component and factor extraction with Oblique rotation, Cronbach alpha and inter-item correlation coefficients, factor analysis, a discriminant analysis and a stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results showed that positive affect and external locus of control were associated with suicide ideation. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

If the way employees die is a direct cause of their working environment, the employer has a certain responsibility to address or prevent these contributing conditions in the environment. Research reports indicate that police officers have higher suicide rates compared to the rates of the general population. Increasing suicide rates for police officers in recent years have been reported for the United States and Australia. Very limited research data for this phenomenon, especially within the South African Police Service, Limpopo Province was found. Previous research on suicide ideation focused on social and individual factors. A research project was launched to determine the relationship between certain demographic variables, coping strategies and stress factors which can be linked to suicide. Research was conducted by means of a cross-sectional survey design. A random, stratified sample (n=204) of uniformed police members was taken from police stations in the province. The Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, the Police Stress Inventory, the Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were administered. Results of a stepwise discriminant analysis showed that the combination of race, the use of seeking emotional support as coping strategy and size of police stations can predict 75% of high suicide ideation cases and 25% of low ideation cases. It was found that 5,88% of the police officials had significant suicide ideation levels. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Suicidal behaviour is one of the most tragic events in human life causing serious emotional, spiritual, medical, social and psychological distress for individuals, family and fiends. In addition, it imposes a great economic problem for the individual, family, and society. In the South African Police Service an alarming rate of 4 per 10 000 suicides has been indicated in previous years. Due to the escalation of suicide rates it is regarded as a major public health concern. Several studies have been done regarding suicide and law enforcement agencies but few regarding suicide ideation in law enforcement agencies. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship among coping, stress and suicide ideation of police officials in the Gauteng Province within the SAPS. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A random, stratifies sample was taken from police officials in the Gauteng Province (n = 266). The Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, Police Stress Inventory, the COPE Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were administered. The results of this study indicated that the factors that predict suicide ideation best are the following: a previous suicide attempt, passive coping styles, to be charged in terms of the disciplinary code, medical conditions and gender. The results also indicated that 9,02% of the sample showed significant levels of suicide ideation. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

No description available.

Background: Individuals experiencing negative and potentially traumatic life events are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors; however, suicidal outcomes are not inevitable. Individuals who attribute negative life events to external, transient, and specific factors, rather than internal, stable, and global self-characteristics, may experience fewer deleterious outcomes, including suicidal behavior. Aims: This study examines the moderating effect of explanatory style on the relationship between negative life experiences and suicide ideation in a college student sample. Methods: A total of 138 participants (73% female) were recruited from a rural. Eastern college and completed a self-report psychosocial assessment. Results: Optimistic explanatory style mitigates the influence of negative and potentially traumatic life events on thoughts of suicide, above and beyond the effects of hopelessness and depression. Conclusions: Beliefs about the origin, pervasiveness, and potential recurrence of a negative life event may affect psychological outcomes. Optimistic explanatory style was associated with reduced suicide ideation, whereas pessimistic explanatory style was associated with increased thoughts of suicide. Optimistic reframing of negative life events for clients may have treatment implications for the prevention of suicidal activity.

OBJECTIVE: Adults with mood disorders are at elevated risk for suicide. Psychological features such as hopelessness increase their risk for suicide ideation. Few studies have examined psychological constructs posited to lower risk for suicide ideation. The authors tested the hypothesis that reasons for living (RFL) are inversely related to suicide ideation. DESIGN: This report is a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data. SETTING: Participants were recruited from the clinical services of three teaching hospitals in Rochester, NY. PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 125 adults 50 years or older receiving treatment for a mood disorder. MEASUREMENTS: A diagnostic interview and measures of suicide ideation, depression, hopelessness, and RFL were included in the assessment battery. Dependent variables were presence and severity of suicide ideation. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic and linear regressions. RESULTS: Patients who reported higher levels of fear of suicide were less likely to report suicide ideation. The relationships between hopelessness and both the presence and severity of suicide ideation were stronger among those who reported greater levels of responsibility to family. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians working with at-risk older adults are encouraged to explore their patients' RFL. These cross-sectional findings point to the need for prospective research examining the associations among different RFL, hopelessness, and suicide ideation in depressed older adults.

Suicide ideation and suicide impact a rapidly rising number of individuals each year, however our society has not envisioned a way to increase help-seeking behaviors to decrease these numbers. The literature discusses many barriers and hurdles to help-seeking, but the focus of SI within the context of help-seeking has not been studied in depth. The purpose of this qualitative study was to increase knowledge on the process through which individuals determine how and whom to ask for help when experiencing SI. Two sections of themes were found: things that encourage individuals to seek or continue to seek help, and things that discourage individuals from seeking help or encourage them to discontinue seeking help.

The health and mental health status of rural populations has often been neglected as a research priority; particularly in the case of rural youth. The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in depressed mood and suicide ideation of urban and rural youth and to determine what factors are associated with depressed mood and suicide ideation. More specifically, this study will examine depressed mood and suicide ideation of urban and rural youth (grades 5 to 8) in the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR) using data from the Student Health Survey. This project involved secondary data analysis of SHR’s Student Health Survey. There were 5,783 grade 5-8 students that participated in the survey. The final logistic regression models revealed similarities and differences between urban and rural youth in the risk factors that predicted the likelihood of students reporting symptoms of depressed mood and suicide ideation. For depressed mood, both urban and rural youth reported their relationship with their parents, their general mental health, low self-esteem, and suicide ideation as risk factors for depressed mood. Gender, age, having been drunk, and feeling like an outsider at school were risk factors for depressed mood in urban youth, while rural students reported that their living situation, their perception of their weight, being physically bullied, and being electronically bullied increased their likelihood of reporting symptoms of depressed mood. In terms of suicide ideation, both urban and rural youth were more likely to report depressed mood and a poor relationship with their parents as risk factors. Urban youth also reported being Aboriginal, that they had tried smoking, and being victims of physical bullying as risk factors. No additional risk factors were found for rural youth. This data will help to address local and national gaps in the literature about the mental health status of youth in rural populations. This research may inform policies and programming in both the health and education sectors.

Objective: The authors examined trait hope and hopelessness as potential moderators of the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior. Participants: A diverse sample of 372 college students. Methods: Depressive symptoms, hopelessness (Beck Hopelessness Scale), trait hope (Trait Hope Scale), and suicidal behaviors were assessed. Trait hope is defined as confidence in the ability to identify and attain goals, whereas hopelessness encompasses future attitudes and motivation loss. Results: In independent models, low hopelessness buffered the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior for our whole sample, blacks, and whites, whereas trait hope buffered for Hispanics and whites. Examined simultaneously, hope remained a significant moderator only in whites and hopelessness only in blacks. These findings suggest that etiological and outcome correlates of hope and hopelessness may differ by ethnicity. Conclusions: These findings may have implications for development of culturally targeted interventions for college students that strive to simultaneously reduce hopelessness and bolster hopefulness.

Suicide risk is increased for previous suicide attempters, who may be vulnerable to exacerbating factors such as daily hassles; yet, individual-level, adaptive characteristics may ameliorate risk. We examined the influence of daily hassles on suicidal ideation and the moderating role of spiritual well-being and its subscales of religious and existential well-being. In our cross-sectional study, 148 African-American female suicide attempters were recruited from a large, urban hospital and completed the Survey of Recent Life Events, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation. Religious and existential well-being moderated the association between hassles and suicidal thoughts; this relationship was weaker for individuals with greater levels of spiritual well-being. Historically, spiritual beliefs have been important to the African-American community and their promotion may effectively prevent additional thoughts of suicide by attempters experiencing hassles of daily life.