Emotional Intelligence Moderates Anhedonia and Suicidal Ideation in Depressed Patients

Evaluating Anhedonia as a risk factor in suicidality: A meta-analysis

Previous studies have evaluated the relationship between anhedonia and suicidality; however, to our knowledge, there has been no quantitative synthesis evaluating the foregoing association to date. Herein, this meta-analysis aims to provide a quantitative synthesis of the extant literature reporting on the association between levels of anhedonia across all dimensions (e.g., anticipatory, consummatory) amongst individuals endorsing suicidality. Online databases (i.e., PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar) were searched from inception to 13 June 2022. Studies which assessed an aspect of suicidality (i.e., ideation, attempts) and a validated anhedonia scale were included. The risk of bias was assessed using the ROBINS-1 tool, and the quality of the sources was evaluated using GRADE criteria. The results of the studies were quantitatively synthesized using Pearson's r effect sizes via a random-effects meta-analysis. A total of 20 studies and 11,212 individuals were included in the final quantitative synthesis. Overall, results indicate that anhedonia has a significant and moderate correlation with suicidality in general and psychiatric populations (r = 0.31, p < 0.001 and r = 0.32, p < 0.001 respectively). Sub-analysis suggests a larger effect of anticipatory and consummatory interpersonal anhedonia (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). The identification of increased levels of anhedonia in individuals with suicidality indicates that anhedonia may be a core risk factor for suicidal ideation and behaviours. Future studies should endeavour to develop a comprehensive risk assessment encompassing all domains of anhedonia which can be utilized in a primary care setting as a potential prevention strategy for suicidal behaviours and outcomes.

Reducing consumer materialism and compulsive buying through emotional intelligence training amongst Lithuanian students

Consumers’ inclinations towards materialism and compulsive buying are influenced by a variety of factors. Materialistic consumers face maladies that cause stress and lower subjective well-being and are unable to control their buying behaviour that in turn leads to social and financial issues. This paper aims to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence training on consumers’ materialism and compulsive buying. The experimental design involves 36 respondents across both groups. Findings confirm the hypothesis that ability-based training programmes can help consumers improve their emotional intelligence whilst also lowering their levels of materialism and compulsive buying. In sum, the results extend the existing literature on consumer materialism by providing an explanation on how specific emotional ability-based training can diminish materialistic and excessive buying inclinations. The development of emotional intelligence skills-based training programmes contributes to more sustainable consumer behaviour, mitigating the vulnerability to materialism and related addictive behavioural consequences.

Suicidal ideation among Lebanese adults: scale validation and correlates

BACKGROUND

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) figures in 2015, the number of people attempting suicide worldwide per year exceeds 800,000 individuals. The majority of completed suicides (78%) occur in low- and middle-income countries. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the suicidal ideation subscale of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale and evaluate risk factors (emotional intelligence, alexithymia, anxiety, depression, and stress) related to suicidal ideation among the Lebanese adult population.

METHODS

A structured cross-sectional survey was carried out between November 2017 and March 2018, enrolling a proportionate random sample of 789 community-dwelling participants from all the Lebanese regions. A correlation analysis between the C-SSRS and anxiety and depression assessed the convergent validity of the scale. An exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis validated its construct. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess internal consistency reliability. Multiple linear regression was performed using the suicidal ideation score as the dependent variable. All variables were included in the multivariable model.

RESULTS

The C-SSRS scale converged over a solution of one factor; the proportion of explained variance was 0.797. The Cronbach's alpha value was good (0.797). The convergent validity was tested with depression and anxiety scales. The results showed a moderate positive correlation between the suicide ideation score and depression (rho = 0.507, p < 0.001) and anxiety (rho = 0.402, p < 0.001). The multivariable analysis showed that higher depression (Unstandardized Beta, B = 0.035, p < 0.001), higher anxiety (B = 0.015, p = 0.008), and higher alcohol dependence (B = 0.024, p < 0.001) were significantly linked to higher suicidal ideation score. However, higher self-esteem (B = -0.041, p = 0.006) was significantly associated with lower suicidal ideation scores.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that the Arabic version of the C-SSRS subscale could serve as an appropriate assessment tool for suicidal ideation. This paper also gave insights into factors correlated with higher suicidal ideation scores, such as depression, anxiety, and alcohol dependence. Further studies are necessary to confirm our findings and implement suicide prevention programs.