Rates of suicide amongst young people with a first episode of psychosis are significantly higher than those of the general population. Psychological theory demonstrates that protective and moderating factors that buffer risk against suicidality are important for understanding why people think about, attempt and are successful at killing themselves. A literature review was conducted to identify the factors that reduce the risk of suicidality specific to people experiencing psychosis. Positive self appraisals, social support, daily activities, coping, negative symptoms of psychosis, and low IQ were found to protect against suicide amongst people with psychosis. An empirical study was then conducted to investigate whether the moderators (i.e. thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness and acquired capability) outlined in the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory can distinguish between young people with a first episode of psychosis who think about suicide and those who attempt suicide (N=45) using self-report measures. The concepts of the Interpersonal Psychological Theory appear to resonate with the experience of psychosis, regardless of suicidality. This may explain why this study was unable to distinguish between those who just think about suicide and those who attempt in a psychosis population. Future research could assess specific features of psychosis and their influence on suicidality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:619387 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Heelis, Rebecca |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/5321/ |
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