What predicts suicidality among psychologists? An examination of risk and resilience

The protective role of sense of coherence in resident physicians facing secondary trauma due to patient death in intensive care-A qualitative inquiry

The salutogenic paradigm is increasingly used in research and practice but remains to be investigated in secondary trauma of health professionals. This qualitative study explored the main anchor of salutogenics, the sense-of-coherence, as a coping mechanism among resident physicians facing secondary trauma due to continuous exposure to patient suffering and deaths. Participants were sixteen resident physicians from intensive care units at emergency departments of two Israeli public tertiary hospitals. Data analysis employed reflexive thematic analysis. Findings suggest that while all residents described having comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness differed among residents. Some residents thrived, coped well with secondary trauma, centered on patient emotional needs, and drew meaningfulness from the challenges. Other residents suffered while providing care, reported poor well-being, were too overwhelmed to center patients, and doubted their career choices. Salutogenic-based interventions to cultivate the resilience of resident physicians experiencing secondary trauma are proposed.

Association between suicidal ideation and burnout: A meta-analysis

Approximately 700,000 people die by suicide annually worldwide. Researchers have explored a spectrum of experiences that involve stress in academic or work environments and potentially intensify suicidal thoughts or behaviors. However, no meta-analysis has examined the relationship between suicidal ideation (SI) and burnout. This study consisted of a meta-analysis to examine the association between SI and burnout syndrome, utilizing the WoS Core Collection, Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO, DIALNET, and Google Scholar databases. Twenty-one samples met the study's eligibility criteria for inclusion in the analysis. The results revealed a significant relationship between SI and burnout, with the type of burnout (occupational, academic, and parental) emerging as the most significant moderating variable. Occupational burnout exhibited the lowest correlation, followed by academic and parental burnout. These findings suggest the importance of developing tools to assess SI within the context of the work environment, parenting and academics, and psychoeducational programs for managing stress.

Anticipated Self and Public Stigma in Suicide Prevention Professionals

Background

Stigma about mental illness-both public and self-is one of the most important factors hindering help-seeking. Stigma can occur during an acute episode of mental illness or be anticipatory. One group affected by stigma, but often neglected, is mental health professionals. This study examined the anticipated form of mental-illness and help-seeking self-stigma and the anticipated form of public stigma of suicidal behavior among members of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. We hypothesized that suicidologists with a history of suicidality or mental illness would anticipate greater stigma from the public and self.

Methods

The study received ethical approval from the Commission for Medical Ethics of the Republic of Slovenia. Data from 83 participants who completed an online survey (February to May 2020) with informed consent were analyzed using path analysis. We tested a model predicting help-seeking self-stigma based on (i) personal experience of mental illness using anticipated self-stigma of mental illness as a mediating variable and (ii) history of suicidal behavior using anticipated public stigma of suicidal behavior as a mediating variable.

Results

Personal experience of mental illness predicted anticipation of self-stigma of mental illness (β = 0.26). History of suicidality predicted anticipation of public stigma of suicidal behavior (β = 0.29). Anticipated self-stigma of mental illness proved to be a stronger predictor of help-seeking self-stigma (β = 0.40) than anticipated public stigma of suicidal behavior (β = 0.07).

Conclusions

It is important to intentionally support the mental health of suicide prevention professionals, as they are not immune to mental illness or various types of stigma. Because our sample was small and diverse, further research to better understand stigma concepts in this population is warranted.