Exploring the relation between psychosis-like experiences and suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts among college students in the United States

A call to action: informing research and practice in suicide prevention among individuals with psychosis

Although it is well established that individuals living with psychosis are at increased risk for suicidal ideation, attempts, and death by suicide, several gaps in the literature need to be addressed to advance research and improve clinical practice. This Call-to-Action highlights three major gaps in our understanding of the intersection of psychosis and suicide as determined by expert consensus. The three gaps include research methods, suicide risk screening and assessment tools used with persons with psychosis, and psychosocial interventions and therapies. Specific action steps to address these gaps are outlined to inform research and practice, and thus, improve care and prognoses among persons with psychosis at risk for suicide.

Psychotic-Like Experiences and Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents: The Chain Mediating Role of Insomnia Symptoms and Resilience

Background

Individuals who experience psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are at significant risk of suicide-related behaviors. This two-wave longitudinal study aimed to investigate the relationships among PLEs, insomnia symptoms, resilience, and suicidal ideation (SI) among adolescents.

Methods

A total of 2231 college students [mean age (standard deviation) = 20.02 (1.39) years] completed two web-based surveys. Participants completed self-report measures of sample characteristics, PLEs, insomnia symptoms, resilience, and SI.

Results

The findings indicated a significantly positive correlation between PLEs and SI that was sequentially mediated by insomnia symptoms and resilience. Furthermore, insomnia symptoms and resilience played a chain-mediating role between PLEs and adolescent SI.

Conclusion

These findings suggest potential mechanism for the PLEs-SI link, which helps us better understand how PLEs can influence individual SI and provides important information for early prevention.

Distress related to psychotic experiences: Enhancing the world health organization composite international diagnostic interview psychosis screen

BACKGROUND

The abbreviated version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) psychosis screen tends to yield high prevalence in online samples. Psychotic Experiences (PE) may not necessarily indicate current or imminent psychopathology; however, distressing PE appear to be more clinically informative.

METHODS

We analyzed data collected from an online survey administered to a Qualtrics panel (N = 2522 adults). Using multivariable logistic regression, we examined the association between PE (with and without associated distress) and several mental health outcomes, adjusting for age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

Individuals with distressing PE had greater odds of most mental health outcomes when compared with individuals with non-distressing PE. This was true for being in mental health treatment, loneliness, probable mental illness, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt, adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and education level. The only exception was for hazardous alcohol use, for which there was no significant association with distressing PE.

CONCLUSION

As screening for PE gains traction in public health and preventive medicine, using an abbreviated version of the WHO CIDI psychosis screen may be clinically informative, especially when eliciting the distressful nature of PE.