The excess suicide mortality on Monday was reported in numerous studies. However, it is uncertain that the uneven weekly distribution of deaths is observed among suicide, or common among various causes of death. Weekly distributions of suicide and other causes of death from 2012 to 2017 in South Korea were compared. Logistic regression models were fitted to investigate the association between causes of death and day-of-the-week effects. We also fitted conditional logistic regression models after age and gender matching. A total of 1,622,213 deaths, including 80,492 suicide decedents, were analyzed. A total of 16.0% of suicide deaths occurred on Monday, whereas 12.4% on Saturday and 13.0% on Sunday. Suicide decedents were more likely to die on Monday than other causes of deaths after controlling sociodemographic factors in unmatched data. However, there was no evidence of excess suicide deaths on Mondays than other days in contrast to matched death controls. While the increase in mortality on Mondays was not unique to suicide, our findings have suicide prevention implications. Mental health practitioners should consider providing additional mental health resources on earlier working days. Workplace mental health programs to reduce psychological burdens of employees could help to prevent suicide during working days.

Low levels of youth-reported self-efficacy to cope with suicidal urges have been shown to prospectively predict repeat emergency department (ED) visits and suicide attempts, yet little is known about how self-efficacy may change following receipt of crisis services or about factors that may strengthen self-efficacy. Protective factors (e.g., parent-reported youth competence, parent-family connectedness, and receipt of mental health services) were examined in relation to self-efficacy at the time of a psychiatric ED visit and 2 weeks later. Participants were 205 youth (ages 10-17), presenting to a psychiatric ED due to a suicide-related concern. Youth primarily identified as biological female (63%) and White (87%). Multivariate hierarchical linear regressions were used to examine candidate protective factors in relation to initial and follow-up suicide coping self-efficacy. Self-efficacy significantly improved in the 2 weeks following the ED visit. Parent-family connectedness was positively related to suicide coping self-efficacy at the time of the ED visit. Parent-family connectedness and receipt of inpatient psychiatric care following the ED visit were associated with higher follow-up suicide coping self-efficacy. During the adolescent developmental period when suicidal thoughts and behaviors notably increase, study findings highlight potential malleable intervention targets, including parent-family connectedness, that may strengthen suicide coping self-efficacy.

The current study explored whether camouflaging autistic traits is associated with defeat and entrapment and lifetime suicidal thoughts, as predicted by the Integrated Volitional Model of Suicide (IMV model). 180 UK undergraduate students (76.7% female 18-67 years) completed a cross-sectional online survey from February 5 to March 23, 2020, including self-report measures of defeat and entrapment (SDES), autistic traits (AQ-10), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), camouflaging autistic traits (CAT-Q), and lifetime suicidal thoughts and behaviors (SBQ-R item 1). After controlling for age, gender, current depression, and anxiety symptoms, autistic traits accounted for significantly more of the variance in defeat and entrapment (1.1%), and camouflaging accounted for a further 3.2% of the variance. The association between autistic traits and lifetime suicidality was significantly mediated by camouflaging, defeat, and entrapment. After controlling for age, gender, current depression, and anxiety symptoms, defeat and entrapment (but not camouflaging) accounted for significantly more variance in lifetime suicidal thoughts. The interaction between camouflaging, defeat and entrapment predicted significantly less variance in lifetime suicidal thoughts than either variable alone. Results suggest that camouflaging autistic traits is a transdiagnostic risk factor for lifetime suicidality, relevant to the defeat and entrapment constructs of the IMV model.

Research has found that patients with suicidal ideation (SI) are at high risk for unfavorable outcomes. The present work aimed to expand the knowledge about their characteristics and treatment success. Data were drawn from a routine assessment of N = 460 inpatients. We used patients' self-report data as well as therapists' reports covering baseline characteristics, depression and anxiety symptoms (at the start and end of therapy), psychosocial stress factors, helping alliance, treatment motivation, and treatment-related control expectancies. In addition to group comparisons, we conducted tests of associations with treatment outcome. SI was reported by 232 patients (50.4% of the sample). It co-occurred with higher symptom burden, more psychosocial stress factors, and negation of help. Patients reporting SI were more likely to be dissatisfied with the treatment outcome (although their therapists were not). SI was related to higher levels of anxiety symptoms after treatment. In regression models of depression and anxiety symptoms, interactions of SI with the external control expectancy powerful others were observed, suggesting that in patients with frequent SI, this control expectancy hindered recovery. Patients reporting SI are a vulnerable group. Therapists could support them by addressing (potentially conflicting) motivations and control expectancies.

To identify temporal patterns of emergency dispatches as initiated by Veteran Crisis Line (VCL) responders and among moderate- and high-risk contacts. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were used to examine the incidence of emergency dispatches among all 1,437,543 VCL contacts across 2019-2020. Emergency dispatches were initiated in 57,077 (4.0%) contacts. IRRs were elevated during Labor Day, IRR (95% CI) = 1.33 (1.15-1.54), and Independence Day, IRR (95% CI) = 1.22 (1.05-1.43), weekends, Saturdays, IRR (95% CI) = 1.04 (1.01-1.08), Sunday (reference), and 6 pm to 11:59 pm, IRR (95% CI) = 1.06 (1.04-1.09). IRRs for moderate- and high-risk contacts were higher on Memorial Day, IRR (95% CI) = 1.16 (1.00-1.33), Sunday (reference), and 6 pm to 11:59 pm (reference). The initiation of emergency dispatches fluctuates over time and were highest during Labor Day and Independence Day, weekends, and evenings. Moderate- and high-risk contact also fluctuate over time and were highest on Memorial Day, Sundays, and midnight to 5:59 am. VCL policy makers can use knowledge of temporal fluctuations to allocate public health resources for increased efficiency and greatest impact; however, additional research on temporal stability and generalizability is needed.

This study validated Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Suicidal Ideation (SUI), Suicide Potential Index (SPI), and S_Chron scales against chronic and acute suicide risk factors and symptom validity measures. Afghanistan/Iraq-era active-duty and Veteran participants completed a prospective study on neurocognition (N = 403) that included the PAI. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (specifically item 9) administered at two time points assessed acute and chronic suicide risk; the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation item 20 identified history of suicide attempts. Major depressive disorder (MDD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and traumatic brain injury (TBI) were evaluated using structured interviews and questionnaires. All three PAI suicide scales were significantly related to independent indicators of suicidality, with the largest effect for SUI (AUC 0.837-0.849). All three suicide scales were significantly related to MDD (r = 0.36-0.51), PTSD (r = 0.27-0.60), and TBI (r = 0.11-0.30). The three scales were not related to suicide attempt history for those with invalid PAI protocols. Although all three suicide scales do show significant relationships to other indicators of risk, SUI showed the highest association and greatest resistance to response bias.

Suicide and Life-Threatening BehaviorVolume 53, Issue 2 p. 185-187 ISSUE INFORMATIONFree Access Issue Information First published: 06 April 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12877AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume53, Issue2April 2023Pages 185-187 RelatedInformation

The unalleviated burden of chronic physical illness (CPI) increases the risk of suicidal behaviors (SB) in affected individuals. This study tested the interpersonal theory of suicide (ITS) in patients with CPI. Patients diagnosed with cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal diseases were recruited from two hospitals in South Korea. Data from 257 participants who completed Time (T) 1 and T2 surveys were analyzed. Hierarchical regression analyses for passive and active suicide ideation (PSI and ASI), and suicide plans and attempts (SP and SA) at both time points were conducted. Interpersonal theory of suicide hypotheses were partially supported. Even accounting for factors such as depression, anxiety, and lifetime SA, some main and interaction effects of the ITS constructs explained SB in a cross-sectional examination, but to a lesser degree in a longitudinal examination that controlled for T1 SB. PB was a consistent correlate of SB. TB was also relevant, as PB-SA association was significant among participants with high TB both times. ASI was associated with SP and SA at T1, and the ASI-SP association at T1 was stronger at a high CS level. Overall, the results suggest the relevance of ITS constructs that warrant attention to prevent SB in patients with CPI.

We aimed to identify and understand risk and protective factors for suicide among South Korean females by linking survey and social media data and using interpretable machine learning approaches. We collected a wide range of potential factors including the material, psychosocial, and behavioral data from a detailed survey, which we then linked to data from social media. In addition, we adopted interpretable machine learning approaches to (1) predict the suicide risk, (2) explain the relative importance of factors and their interactions regarding suicide, and (3) understand individual differences affecting suicide risk. The best-performing machine learning model achieved an AUC of 0.737. Adverse childhood experiences, social connectedness, and mean positive sentiment score of social media posts were the three risk factors that had a monotonic or unimodal relationship with suicide, and satisfaction with life, narcissistic self-presentation, and number of close friends on social media were the three protective factors that had a monotonic or unimodal relationship with suicide. We also found several meaningful interactions between specific psychiatric symptoms and narcissistic self-presentation. Our findings can help governmental organizations to better assess female suicide risk in South Korea and develop more informed and customized suicide prevention strategies.