Health outcomes of psychosocial stress within firefighters: A systematic review of the research landscape

Background and Objectives Much of the research surrounding firefighter health has concerned the hazards intuitively associated with the occupation, such as physical, thermal, and chemical risks. However, an additional aspect of their work environment, psychosocial stressors, has begun to attract a growing level of attention. Work-related psychosocial stress may best be described as mental and […]

A pilot study of clinicians’ perceptions of feasibility, client-centeredness, and usability of the systematic tailored assessment for responding to suicidality protocol

Background: The Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality (STARS) is a client-centered, psychosocial needs-based assessment protocol. This semistructured interview obtains client prioritized indicators that contribute to suicidality and informs commensurate care responses for preventing suicide. Aim: To pilot the feasibility, client-centeredness, and usability of the STARS protocol, including clinicians’ perceptions of ease of use; content validity; and […]

Psychosocial health in adolescent unmarried motherhood in rural Uganda: Implications for community-based collaborative mental health education, and empowerment strategies in the prevention of depression and suicide

Teenage pregnancy rates in Uganda are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Child marriage is often the result of unmarried teenage pregnancy and is recognised by Uganda’s government as a form of sexual violence and an outcome of inequality. However, unmarried motherhood incurs stigma and shame within traditionally living rural communities. Using co-produced Open Space […]

Years of life lost due to the psychosocial consequences of COVID-19 mitigation strategies based on Swiss data

Background. The pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has forced governments to implement strict social mitigation strategies to reduce the morbidity and mortality from acute infections. These strategies, however, carry a significant risk for mental health, which can lead to increased short-term and long-term mortality and is currently not included in modeling the impact […]

Patients with borderline personality disorder in emergency departments

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients, when in crisis, are frequent visitors of emergency departments (EDs). When these patients exhibit symptoms such as aggressiveness, impulsivity, intense anxiety, severe depression, self-harm, and suicidal attempts or gestures, diagnosis, and treatment of the BPD becomes challenging for ED doctors. This review will, therefore, outline advice to physicians and health-care […]

Psychosocial assessment in the emergency department: The experiences of people presenting with self-harm and suicidality

Background: In the United Kingdom, suicide risk is assessed in the emergency department (ED) in a face-to-face assessment with psychiatric liaison practitioners. This study aimed to explore patient experiences of psychosocial assessment after presenting with self-harm/suicidality. Method: A total of 28 patients were interviewed within 2 weeks of ED attendance for self-harm/suicidality. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using […]

Demographic and psychosocial factors associated with recent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, and asexual (LGBQ) people in Australia: Correlates of suicidality among LGBQ Australians

Introduction To examine demographic and psychosocial correlates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among a large cross-section of sexual orientation populations in Australia, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, and asexual (LGBQ) people. Methods A national survey was conducted involving 5,174 cisgender LGBQ participants aged 18+ years. Multivariable regressions identified factors associated with recent suicidal […]

Mental health burden of high school students, and suggestions for psychosocial support, 1.5 years into the COVID‑19 pandemic in Austria

The COVID-19 pandemic and containment efforts seem to be particularly challenging for adolescents. This study assessed mental health in high school students 1.5 years after the pandemic began in Austria. A cross-sectional survey was carried out from September to November 2021. Well-being (WHO-5), depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and sleep quality were assessed. A total of 1505 […]

Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for family members and other informal support persons of individuals who have made a suicide attempt: A systematic review

Background: Individuals recovering from a suicide attempt may benefit from support provided by informal carers, that is, family members and other support persons, who may require support themselves. Aims: This systematic review aims to identify and synthesize available literature on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for this carer population. Method: A search of peer-reviewed literature in five databases was carried […]

Psychosocial risks and benefits of exposure to heavy metal music with aggressive themes: Current theory and evidence

Concerns have been raised that prolonged exposure to heavy metal music with aggressive themes can increase the risk of aggression, anger, antisocial behaviour, substance use, suicidal ideation, anxiety and depression in community and psychiatric populations. Although research often relies on correlational evidence for which causal inferences are not possible, it is often claimed that music with […]

The role of social work in confronting the farmer suicide crisis: Best practice recommendations and a call to action

Although estimates of prevalence vary, suicide rates among farmers are high and pose an important challenge for mental health policy and practice. The lack of mental health resources in many rural communities is a significant barrier to improving farmer mental health outcomes. The current paper will review (1) current findings related to the psychosocial functioning […]

Twenty-six years of psychosocial interventions to reduce suicide risk in adolescents: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: During adolescence, suicide risk increases; effective treatments are needed to reduce risk. Methods: Databases were searched (1995-2020) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concerning psychosocial treatments for suicide prevention in adolescents (10-18 yrs). Data were extracted from the timepoint closest to 6 months. Cohen’s ds were estimated for reducing suicidal ideation (SI), self-harming behaviors (SHB) excluding strictly […]

Suicide risk in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic created high levels of psychological distress and may have increased suicide risk. METHODS We used the 4-item Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) to assess suicide risk among all patients 12 to 24 years of age at a children’s hospital. We compared demographics, encounter type (telehealth or face-to-face [F2F]), and […]

Suicide risk profile and the social convoy: Population-level patterns of the young generation’s help-seeking behavior and implications for suicide prevention

Background: Social support network offers a large potential in augmenting suicide prevention efforts tailored for the young generation (YG), but has so far been largely overlooked in population health studies. Key issues that remain scarcely understood include the composition of the YG’s activated support network when they faced psychological distress, along with the prevalence and suicide […]

Reflecting on lived experience: Suicide prevention and the importance of social work in mental health

INTRODUCTION: National suicide prevention strategies and action plans have, historically, been written without input from consumers/current users of mental health services. People who could arguably be seen as experts in this area are rarely asked for their knowledge regarding the efficacy of suicide prevention and intervention efforts. The aims of this study were to gain further […]

Psychosocial functioning in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury: The roles of childhood maltreatment, borderline personality disorder and depression

Background There is a lack of studies examining psychosocial functioning in patients with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), especially in adolescents, and rates of impaired functioning in existing literature vary considerably. These variations may be attributable to further risk factors that influence psychosocial functioning. Thus, the aim of the study was to examine whether adolescent NSSI patients […]

Psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study of online help-seeking Canadian men

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of men. The present study investigated psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on a help-seeking sample of Canadian men, focusing on diverse aspects of their psychosocial well-being. Methods: A cross-sectional, open survey study design was used. Canadian adult men who were visiting an […]

Suicide attempt and associated factors among adolescents in five southeast Asian countries in 2015

Background: Suicide is a major cause of death among adolescents. Aims: The study aimed to report on the prevalence and correlates of suicide attempt among in-school adolescents in five Southeast Asian countries. Method: Cross-sectional data from the 2015 Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) included 33,004 middle-school children (mean age = 14.3 years, SD = 1.6) that were representative of all students […]

Clinical and psychosocial characteristics of adolescent pediatric patients hospitalized after different types of suicidal behaviors: A preliminary study

The objective of this study was to examine the clinical characteristics of adolescents hospitalized after a suicide attempt or instrumental suicide-related behavior. Participants included thirty-six adolescents from the pediatric unit of a Polish hospital who made a nonfatal suicide attempt (SAA) or engaged in instrumental suicide-related behavior (IBA), as well as a general population sample […]

Older adults bereaved by suicide: A systematic literature search identifying zero studies

The objective of the present study was to identify empirical studies of older adults (≥60) bereaved by the loss of a significant other to suicide. A systematic literature search in CINAHL, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, and SCOPUS was conducted. The inclusion criteria were empirical studies investigating people bereaved by suicide at age ≥60 published in English […]

‘Dead people don’t claim’: A psychopolitical autopsy of UK austerity suicides

One of the symptoms of post financial crisis austerity in the UK has been an increase in the numbers of suicides, especially by people who have experienced welfare reform. This article develops and utilises an analytic framework of psychopolitical autopsy to explore media coverage of ‘austerity suicide’ and to take seriously the psychic life of […]

Psychosocial factors correlated with undisclosed suicide attempts to significant others: Findings from the Adolescence SEYLE Study

Objective Suicide attempt (SA) is recognized as one of the risk factors for completed suicides. The concealment of this behavior often hinders detection and management of suicide risk. Thus, in this study, we sought to shed light on adolescents’ psychosocial processes that could facilitate disclosure of SAs. Specifically, we sought to identify antecedents of adolescent […]

Psychosocial factors associated with suicide attempts, ideation, and future risk in lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth

Background: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth have elevated suicidality rates. Aims: To investigate LGB-related and other factors associated with suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and future suicide risk in a large UK sample. Method: Logistic regression was used to investigate factors associated with suicidality in 3,275 LGB young adults from the Youth Chances project. Results: […]