Reviews the literature on suicidal behavior in gay and lesbian populations. Suicide risk factors include previous attempts, substance abuse, family dysfunction, and other factors. Suggests implications for mental-health counselors, which are discussed in terms of competency, intervention, and sociopolitical activism. Evidence suggests this…

Twenty adolescents who had made suicide attempts are compared with 20 nonpsychiatric subjects on measures of problem solving, stress, and coping. Findings support a transactional model of adolescent suicidal behavior whereby inaccuracies in the appraisal of problem solving while under high stress lead to a reduction in the use of adaptive coping…

Reviews existing research in clinical assessment and treatment of suicidal patients. Presents data concerning the "life course" of suicidality among outpatient samples of suicidal university students. Data suggest different subtypes of suicidality, which are further considered using a conceptual model that differentiates intrapsychic…

Provides an overview of mental health issues involved in the debate over rational suicide and other forms of hastened death. Covers arguments for including counseling psychologists and other mental health professionals in discussions about hastened death and highlights the relevant empirical research. Provides directions for counseling…

Discusses planned suicide as a topic that receives much attention both in the popular press and the scholarly literature. Provides a case scenario followed with a discussion of pertinent legal and ethical issues for counselors. (Author/GCP)

Objective: Both mood disorder and suicidal behavior are familial. In this study, the authors examine the factors associated with the familial transmission of these two related conditions to learn which are shared or unique risk factors for familial transmission. Method: The 285 offspring of 141 probands with mood disorder were studied. Proband and…

To examine the association between physical dating violence victimization and risk and protective factors, an anonymous, cross-sectional, self-reported survey was administered to Latino youth (n = 446) residing in suburban Washington, DC. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed, and adjusted OR and 95% CI were examined.…

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) implementation in a general child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit and to provide preliminary effectiveness data on DBT versus treatment as usual (TAU). Method: Sixty-two adolescents with suicide attempts or suicidal ideation were admitted to one of two…

As a political issue, death and dying topics only sometimes reach the political agenda. However, some issues, such as physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been highly salient. This article explores attitudes toward PAS by examining the malleability of opinion when respondents are exposed to issue frames and when specific messengers present those…

Data from 390 high school students were collected to examine potential differences between adolescents who had attempted suicide and those who engaged in self-injurious behavior on measures of depression, suicidal ideation, and attitudes toward life and death. Significant differences were found between controls and the self-harm groups on all…

In response to the growing suicide rate among adolescents and young adults, researchers have noted the importance of peer responses to suicidal disclosures in this population. The most adaptive response is to inform a responsible adult about the suicidal peer, but existing data indicate that most adolescents and young adults choose to talk to the…

This study evaluated the characteristics of suicidal behavior (suicide attempt or suicidal ideation) among 230 consecutively admitted inpatients with schizophrenia and mood disorders in a university hospital in China. The rate of lifetime suicidal behavior was found to be significantly higher in patients with mood disorders (62.4%) than in…

Data collected from 26 therapists who were treating patients when they died by suicide were used to identify intense affective states in such patients preceding the suicide. Eleven therapists provided comparable data on 26 patients they had treated who were seriously depressed but not suicidal. Although the two groups had similar numbers diagnosed…

Qualitative data from an empirical study of adolescent suicide risk were analyzed to examine the screening component built in to a larger protocol. It was determined that a significant number of students were being identified as being in need of follow-up. Although the majority (88.7%) of students screened met criteria for placement in the no…

People who kill others rarely kill themselves afterwards. When they do, they are more likely to have killed someone with whom they were intimate. Two broad types of suicidal killers have been identified in research that presumes varying degrees of premeditation. Using data on over 700 intimate femicides, the role of premeditation in cases of…