Resource Tag: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A multiple dependent state sampling plan (MDSSP) is designed when the lifetimes of the variables follow New Lomax Rayleigh Distribution (NLRD). The decision to accept or reject a lot in the proposed methodology is based on the quality of the given present or previous lots. A binomial model-based operating characteristic curve (OC curve) for continuous […]

Background and Aims Our goal was to develop an online questionnaire to survey the prevalence of suicidal behavior. Methods We developed a questionnaire with 51 variables and proceeded with validations. Validations were performed using face validity, content validity, and construct validity. Reliability was performed by test−rest. Results The face validity was 1.0 and the content […]

Background: An important consideration when conducting randomized controlled trials is treatment differentiation. Direct observation helps ensure that providers in different treatment groups are delivering distinct interventions. One direct observation method is the use of a measure to rate clinician performance when delivering an intervention. Aims: This generalizability study evaluated the reliability of the CAMS Rating Scale (CRS), a […]

Aim: Research is imperative to advance our understanding of suicidal behavior and its prevention. Suicide prevention research involves various ethical issues, many of which are not straightforward to address. Hence, suicide prevention researchers sometimes face particular issues when designing their research studies. This expert consensus study aimed to identify the most important ethical issues to consider […]

Background: There is a need for evidence-based guidelines on how professionals should act following a suicide. In an effort to provide empiric knowledge, we designed a nationwide population-based study including suicide-bereaved parents. Aim: To describe the process from creating hypotheses through interviews to the development of a population-based questionnaire. Method: We used interviews, qualitative analysis and various means […]

Background: When one intends to globally smooth unstable rates, e.g., suicide rates in a region, one needs to consider whether it is better to smooth the rates toward the global mean of the country or toward the global mean of the same region. Aims: The present study aims to provide a methodological framework to answer this question […]

Background: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. Aims: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners’ court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the […]

Background High attrition rates in longitudinal research can limit study generalizability, threaten internal validity, and decrease statistical power. Research has demonstrated that there can be significant differences between participants who complete a research study and those who drop out prematurely, and that treatment outcomes may be dependent on retention in a treatment protocol. Aims The […]

Background Participant safety is an important concern in mental-health-oriented research. Investigators conducting studies in the United States that include potentially suicidal individuals are often required to develop written suicide risk management (SRM) protocols. But little is known about these protocols. It is possible that such protocols could serve as templates for suicide risk management in […]

Important ethical challenges arise from features that are central to suicide research, such as the involvement of participants who might have an increased risk of suicide and asking suicide-related questions of participants.

Objective: Suicide is a leading cause of death among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) young people aged 10-19 years in the United States, but data collection and reporting in this population are lacking. We examined results of an oversample project in New Mexico to determine the association between resiliency factors and suicide-related behaviors among AI/AN middle […]

Aim: Research is imperative to advance our understanding of suicidal behavior and its prevention. Suicide prevention research involves various ethical issues, many of which are not straightforward to address. Hence, suicide prevention researchers sometimes face particular issues when designing their research studies. This expert consensus study aimed to identify the most important ethical issues to consider […]

Objective Suicide prediction, prevention, and intervention are urgent research areas. One barrier for research with high-risk populations is limited resources to manage risk in a research setting. We describe using the University of Washington Risk Assessment Protocol (UWRAP) to assess and manage suicide risk during phone-administered eligibility assessments in two clinical trials. Method Study 1 […]

Introduction Power analysis is critical for both planning future research samples and evaluating the reasonability of answers produced by pre-existing and fixed samples. Unfortunately, the irregularity of suicide-related data and the need for increasingly complex models in suicide research can make traditional power formulas inaccurate or even unusable. Ignoring these common problems risks both over- […]

Objective Although causal inference is often straightforward in experimental contexts, few research questions in suicide are amenable to experimental manipulation and randomized control. Instead, suicide prevention specialists must rely on observational data and statistical control of confounding variables to make effective causal inferences. We provide a brief summary of recent covariate practice and a tutorial […]

Objective To introduce the research methods of computerized text mining and its possible applications in suicide research and to demonstrate the procedures of applying a specific text mining area, document classification, to a suicide-related study. Method A systematic search of academic papers that applied text mining methods to suicide research was conducted. Relevant papers were […]

Objective To provide researchers, clinicians and policy makers with a primer to study designs, statistical approaches and graphical reporting methods for suicide research in real world data (RWD). Methods Study designs, statistical method and graphical reporting standards are detailed with examples from the recently published literature. Results Data sources and codes for identifying suicidal behavior […]

Background Suicidal behavior is the result of complex interactions between many different factors that change over time. A network perspective may improve our understanding of these complex dynamics. Within the network perspective, psychopathology is considered to be a consequence of symptoms that directly interact with one another in a network structure. To view suicidal behavior […]

Objective Suicide risk is a nonlinear temporal process, but the ways in which suicide-focused interventions have statistically examined risk effects have ignored these nonlinearities. This paper highlights the potential benefits of using data analytic methods that account for nonlinear change patterns. Method Using a dynamical systems perspective, interventions are framed in terms of attractor dynamics. […]

Objective Categorical data analysis is relevant to suicide risk and prevention research that focuses on discrete outcomes (e.g., suicide attempt status). Unfortunately, results from these analyses are often misinterpreted and not presented in a clinically tangible manner. We aimed to address these issues and highlight the relevance and utility of categorical methods in suicide research […]

Objective As recent advances in suicide research have underscored the importance of studying distinct suicide outcomes (i.e., suicidal thinking vs. behavior), there is a need to consider the theoretical meaningfulness of our statistical approach(es). As an alternative to more popular statistical methods, we introduce ordinal regression, detailing specific forms that are well-aligned to examine outcomes […]

Objective The connection of individuals at elevated suicide risk to mental healthcare services represents a critical component of suicide prevention efforts. This article provides recommendations for enhancing the assessment of help-seeking and mental health service use within the context of suicide prevention research. Method We discuss evidence-based and theoretical rationale for improving current approaches to […]

Suicide research is vitally important, yet—like psychology research more broadly—faces methodological challenges. In recent years, researchers have raised concerns about standard practices in psychological research, concerns that apply to suicide research and raise questions about its robustness and validity. In the present paper, we review these concerns and the corresponding solutions put forth by the […]