Optimism and gratitude on suicide risk in Spanish adults: Evidence for doubling up or doubling down?

Beyond Fundamental Dimensions of Mood in Predicting Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in Victims of Interpersonal Violence: Examining the Role of Dispositional Optimism in Chinese Females With and Without Experience of Victimization

The present study tested a prediction model involving affectivity and dispositional optimism as predictors of suicide risk (i.e., depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation) in young adult Chinese females with and without prior interpersonal violence (IPV) victimization (294 nonvictimized and 94 victimized females). Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that negative affectivity was a significant predictor of both depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation for Chinese females, regardless of IPV victimization. Beyond affectivity, dispositional optimism was found to further add to the prediction model of depressive symptoms in both groups, but only for suicidal ideation in the IPV victimized group.

Hope as a Process in Understanding Positive Mood and Suicide Protection

Background: According to the broaden-and-build model of positive mood, positive emotions are believed to broaden cognition resources and build psychological resiliency, to help incur positive psychological outcomes. Aim: We examined hope as a potential mediator of the association between positive mood and suicide protection (viz., life satisfaction and reasons for living) in adults. We hypothesized that positive mood would be associated with greater suicide protection through broadening hope agency and building hope pathways. Method: A sample of 320 college students completed measures of positive emotions, hope, and suicide protection. Results: Results from bootstrapped mediation testing indicated that hope agency, but not hope pathways, partially or fully mediated the relationship between positive mood and suicide protection. Limitations: It is not clear whether these findings are generalizable to a more diverse adult population. Also, it is not possible to rule out alternative causal models involving positive emotions and suicide protection. Conclusion: These findings provide some promising preliminary evidence for how positive emotions might help build hope agency to foster greater suicide protection in adults.

The Common Factors of Grit, Hope, and Optimism Differentially Influence Suicide Resilience

No study to date has simultaneously examined the commonalities and unique aspects of positive psychological factors and whether these factors uniquely account for a reduction in suicide risk. Using a factor analytic approach, the current study examined the relationships between grit, hope, optimism, and their unique and overlapping relationships in predicting suicide ideation. Results of principle axis factor analysis demonstrated close relationships between these variables at both the construct and item level. Item-level analyses supported a five-factor solution (Stick-to-Itiveness, Poor Future, Consistency of Interest, Positive Future, and Poor Pathways). Four of the five factors (excluding Stick-to-Itiveness) were associated with suicide ideation. Additionally, results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that two of the five factors (Consistency of Interest and Positive Future) negatively predicted suicide ideation while Poor Future positively predicted suicide ideation. Implications regarding the interrelationships between grit, hope, and optimism with suicide ideation are discussed.