Love and suicide: the structure of the Affective Intensity Rating Scale (AIRS) and its relation to suicidal behavior

Predictive validity and symptom configuration of proposed diagnostic criteria for the Suicide Crisis Syndrome: A replication study

OBJECTIVE

The Suicide Crisis Syndrome (SCS) is a new proposed suicide-specific diagnosis. In the present large replication study, we examine SCS diagnostic criteria to determine which configuration of symptoms demonstrates the strongest convergent and predictive validity for near-term suicidal behaviour.

METHODS

We conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the factor structure of the proxy-SCS variables derived from an extensive self-report test battery and administered to 903 psychiatric patients (age (M = 36.70, SD = 13.91); gender (64.0% female)) at intake and 4-8-week follow-up assessments. Convergent and predictive validity of five configurations of the proposed SCS diagnostic criteria for suicidal ideation (SI) and attempts (SA) were examined using regression analyses. The new clinician-rated SCS-Checklist was piloted with 68 participants.

RESULTS

Both the one-factor and the five-factor models of proxy-SCS variables exhibited strong model fit, supporting the uni-dimensionality as well as the five-criteria structure of the SCS. All four configurations were uniquely related to the presence of a suicide attempt at follow-up when controlling for intake SI, lifetime SA, age, and gender, but none were significantly associated with intake SA when controlling for intake SI, age, and gender. All bivariate correlations between proxy-assessed and checklist-assessed SCS symptom configurations were significant and positive.

CONCLUSION

The proposed five-symptom structure of the SCS diagnostic criteria was supported and appears to describe a clinically meaningful syndrome specifically related to near-term suicidal behaviour. SCS assessment may significantly improve clinical evaluation of imminent suicide risk. Future studies are needed to assess the utility of the syndrome in clinical settings.

The revised suicide crisis inventory (SCI-2): Validation and assessment of prospective suicidal outcomes at one month follow-up

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The Suicide Crisis Syndrome (SCS) is an evidence-based pre-suicidal cognitive and affective state predictive of short-term suicide risk. The most recent SCS formulation, proposed as a suicide-specific DSM diagnosis, features a feeling of Entrapment accompanied by four additional symptom clusters: Affective Disturbance; Loss of Cognitive Control; Hyperarousal; and Social Withdrawal. The aim of the present study was to revise the Suicide Crisis Inventory (SCI; Barzilay et al., 2020), a self-report measure assessing the presence of the SCS,in accordance with the current SCS formulation, as well as to assess the psychometric properties and clinical utility of its revised version, the Suicide Crisis Inventory-2 (SCI-2).

METHODS

The SCI-2, a 61-item self-report questionnaire, was administered to 421 psychiatric inpatients and outpatients at baseline. Prospective suicidal outcomes including suicidal ideation, preparatory acts, and suicidal attempts were assessed after one month. Internal structure and consistency were assessed with confirmatory factor analysis, convergent, discriminant, and current criterion validity. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves with Area under the Curve (AUC) were used to examine the predictive validity of the SCI-2 to prospective outcomes. Exploratory analyses assessed the predictive validity of the five SCI-2 dimensions.

RESULTS

The SCI-2 demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.971), good convergent, discriminant, and current criterion validity. The SCI-2 significantly predicted all three outcomes, and was the only significant predictor of suicidal attempts with AUC = 0.883.

DISCUSSION

The results of this study indicate that the SCI-2 is a valid and reliable tool to assess the presence and intensity of the Suicide Crisis Syndrome and to predict short-term prospective suicidal behaviors and attempts among psychiatric outpatients and inpatients regardless of patients' readiness to disclose suicidal ideation.

Multi-informant prediction of near-term suicidal behavior independent of suicidal ideation

BACKGROUND

Both the Suicide Crisis Syndrome (SCS) and clinicians' emotional responses to suicidal patients are predictive of near-term suicidal behaviors. Thus, we tested predictive validity of a combination of the proposed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual SCS criteria and the Therapist Response Questionnaire Suicide Form (TRQ-SF) for near-term suicidal behavior.

METHODS

The presence of SCS in adult psychiatric outpatients (N=451) was assessed using relevant items from validated psychometric assessments. Clinicians completed the TRQ-SF immediately after patient intake. Suicide attempts (SA) and a combination of suicide plans and attempts (SPA) were measured at one month follow-up (N=359).

RESULTS

At follow-up nine patients reported having SPA and seven reported SA. Meeting the SCS criteria were associated with near-term SA (χ2=5.987, p<0.01), while high TRQ-SF scores were associated with both near-term SA (χ2=5.971, p<0.05) and SPA (χ2=7.069, p<0.01). Meeting either the SCS or having high TRQ-SF scores, but not both, was associated with near-term SA (χ2=11.893, p<0.01) and SPA (χ2=11.449, p<0.01). Incremental predictive validity over standard suicide risk factors and individual scales was demonstrated in logistic regressions.

CONCLUSIONS

Multi-informant risk assessment not reliant on patient self-reported ideation appear to enhance predictive power of traditional risk assessments in identifying imminent suicide risk.

Perfectionism and Prospective Near-Term Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors: The Mediation of Fear of Humiliation and Suicide Crisis Syndrome

BACKGROUND

Perfectionism has been linked to suicide. According to the Narrative-Crisis Model of suicide, individuals with trait vulnerabilities are prone to develop a certain mindset, known as a Suicidal Narrative, which may precipitate the Suicide Crisis Syndrome (SCS), culminating in suicide. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between perfectionism (trait vulnerability), fear of humiliation (component of the Suicidal Narrative), SCS, and prospective near-term suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB).

METHODS

Adult psychiatric outpatient participants (N = 336) were assessed at baseline with the Suicidal Narrative Inventory for perfectionism and fear of humiliation. The questions used to assess perfectionism were adapted from the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. The severity of the SCS was calculated using the Suicide Crisis Inventory. STB were assessed at baseline and after one month using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Serial mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS version 3.3 in SPSS.

RESULTS

While the direct effect of perfectionism on prospective STB was not significant (b = 0.01, p = 0.19), the indirect effect of perfectionism on STB, through serial mediation by fear of humiliation and the SCS, was significant (indirect effect p = 0.007, 95% CI [0.003,0.013]). The indirect effect was not significant for models that did not include both mediators.

LIMITATIONS

Variables were assessed at one time only.

CONCLUSION

Perfectionism did not directly modulate STB. Perfectionism may be related to suicidal behavior through fear of humiliation, leading to the SCS. These results support the Narrative-Crisis Model of suicide and clarify the role of perfectionism in the etiology of suicide.

Love is a physiological motivation (like hunger, thirst, sleep or sex)

The multitude of terms associated with love has given rise to a false perception of love. In this paper, only maternal and romantic love are considered. Love is usually regarded as a feeling, motivation, addiction, passion, and, above all, an emotion. This confusion has consequences in the lives of human beings, leading not only to divorces, suicides, femicides but possibly also to a number of mental illnesses and suffering. Therefore, it is crucial to first clarify what is meant by emotion, motivation and love. This work aims to finally place love within the category of physiological motivations, such as hunger, thirst, sleep, or sex, on the basis that love is also essential for human survival, especially in childhood. Love is presented from an evolutionary perspective. Some other similarities between love and other physiological motivations are pointed out, such as its importance for appropriate human development, both its ontogeny and its permanence, and the long-lasting consequences of abuse and neglect. There are summarized reasons that account for this, such as the fact that physiological motivations are essential for survival and that love is an essential motivation for the survival of human offspring. Other reasons are that minimum changes in the quantity and quality of love alters development, that there can be a variety of neurophysiological and behavioural states within a motivation, and that motivations (also love) appear and change throughout development. Also, motivations and love sometimes may lead to an addictive behaviour. Finally, it is recognized that once physiological motivations (and love) appear, they become permanent. In a third section, some potential social, cultural, clinical and scientific consequences of the proposed consideration of love as a motivation are discussed. Accordingly, love's recognition as a motivation in the clinical field would imply a better understanding of its disorders and its inclusion in classifications manuals such as The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), or in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Considering love as a motivation rather than an emotion could also impact the results of scientific research (an example is included). A comprehensive understanding of these questions could potentially allow for a new therapeutic approach in the treatment of mental illness, while offering an all-inclusive evolutionary explanation of cultural phenomena such as the origin and diffusion of both language and art. Love should be understood as a physiological motivation, like hunger, sleep or sex, and not as an emotion as it is commonly considered.

Predictive Validity of Proposed Diagnostic Criteria for the Suicide Crisis Syndrome: An Acute Presuicidal State

BACKGROUND

Determining imminent risk of suicide continues to challenge psychiatrists. To this end, we test the clinical utility of a proposed set of diagnostic criteria for the suicide crisis syndrome (SCS) for prediction of imminent suicidal thoughts and behaviors prospectively.

METHOD

One hundred and seventy individuals hospitalized for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) were evaluated within 72 hr of admission with measures assessing symptoms of the proposed SCS, history of STB, current ideation, and depression severity. Four-eight weeks following discharge, STB were reassessed. Associations between SCS and postdischarge attempts were examined using chi-square and logistic regression analyses. The receiver operator characteristic analysis was used to test the optimal number of symptoms required to meet proposed SCS criteria.

RESULTS

The syndrome was maximally informative about short-term risk of postdischarge suicide behavior when all criteria were met. The syndrome conferred a sevenfold increase in risk of postdischarge suicide attempt, and significantly improved prediction by standard risk factors, which was null to limited.

CONCLUSIONS

The SCS diagnostic criteria are supported and appear to describe a clinically meaningful syndrome in a high-risk population. Assessment of SCS may meaningfully improve clinical assessment of imminent suicide risk. Further study is needed to better understand the syndrome and its applicability in low-risk populations.

The impact of intimate partner relationships on suicidal thoughts and behaviours: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

A systematic review was conducted to identify the impact of intimate partner relationships on suicidality. The aim of the review was to identify factors within intimate partner relationships that influence suicidal ideation, attempts and completion.

METHOD

Fifty-one articles were identified through Scopus, PubMed and PsycINFO databases. Due to the high heterogeneity of the included studies, a narrative data synthesis was conducted.

RESULTS

The research drew attention to specific contingents of the population, for example examining suicide risk in individuals under the age of 35 or lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals who are experiencing relationship discord, and in males who have recently separated.

LIMITATIONS

Interpretation of these findings is constrained by methodological limitations prevalent in much of the literature. Limitations of the existing literature and corresponding directions for future research are discussed.

CONCLUSIONS

Relationship separation and poor quality relationships are likely to be important risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviours and are frequent triggers for a suicide attempt. This review highlights intimate partner relationships as a significant component in a suicide risk assessment, regardless of the clinical setting. Consequently, clinicians should be aware that individuals reporting relationship problems are likely to be at increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours.

The ABC's of Suicide Risk Assessment: Applying a Tripartite Approach to Individual Evaluations

There is considerable need for accurate suicide risk assessment for clinical, screening, and research purposes. This study applied the tripartite affect-behavior-cognition theory, the suicidal barometer model, classical test theory, and item response theory (IRT), to develop a brief self-report measure of suicide risk that is theoretically-grounded, reliable and valid. An initial survey (n = 359) employed an iterative process to an item pool, resulting in the six-item Suicidal Affect-Behavior-Cognition Scale (SABCS). Three additional studies tested the SABCS and a highly endorsed comparison measure. Studies included two online surveys (Ns = 1007, and 713), and one prospective clinical survey (n = 72; Time 2, n = 54). Factor analyses demonstrated SABCS construct validity through unidimensionality. Internal reliability was high (α = .86-.93, split-half = .90-.94)). The scale was predictive of future suicidal behaviors and suicidality (r = .68, .73, respectively), showed convergent validity, and the SABCS-4 demonstrated clinically relevant sensitivity to change. IRT analyses revealed the SABCS captured more information than the comparison measure, and better defined participants at low, moderate, and high risk. The SABCS is the first suicide risk measure to demonstrate no differential item functioning by sex, age, or ethnicity. In all comparisons, the SABCS showed incremental improvements over a highly endorsed scale through stronger predictive ability, reliability, and other properties. The SABCS is in the public domain, with this publication, and is suitable for clinical evaluations, public screening, and research.

Predictive validity of the Suicide Trigger Scale (STS-3) for post-discharge suicide attempt in high-risk psychiatric inpatients

Background

The greatly increased risk of suicide after psychiatric hospitalization is a critical problem, yet we are unable to identify individuals who would attempt suicide upon discharge. The Suicide Trigger Scale v.3 (STS-3), was designed to measure the construct of an affective ‘suicide trigger state’ hypothesized to precede a suicide attempt (SA). This study aims to test the predictive validity of the STS-3 for post-discharge SA on a high-risk psychiatric-inpatient sample.

Methods

The STS-3, and a psychological test battery measuring suicidality, mood, impulsivity, trauma history, and attachment style were administered to 161 adult psychiatric patients hospitalized following suicidal ideation (SI) or SA. Receiver Operator Characteristic and logistic regression analyses were used to assess prediction of SA in the 6-month period following discharge from hospitalization.

Results

STS-3 scores for the patients who made post-discharge SA followed a bimodal distribution skewed to high and low scores, thus a distance from median transform was applied to the scores. The transformed score was a significant predictor of post-discharge SA (AUC 0.731), and a subset of six STS-3 scale items was identified that produced improved prediction of post-discharge SA (AUC 0.814). Scores on C-SSRS and BSS were not predictive. Patients with ultra-high (90^th percentile) STS-3 scores differed significantly from ultra-low (10^th percentile) scorers on measures of affective intensity, depression, impulsiveness, abuse history, and attachment security.

Conclusion

STS-3 transformed scores at admission to the psychiatric hospital predict suicide attempts following discharge among the high-risk group of suicidal inpatients. Patients with high transformed scores appear to comprise two clinically distinct groups; an impulsive, affectively intense, fearfully attached group with high raw STS-3 scores and a low-impulsivity, low affect and low trauma-reporting group with low raw STS-3 scores. These groups may correspond to low-plan and planned suicide attempts, respectively, but this remains to be established by future research.

Fear of dying in panic attacks predicts suicide attempt in comorbid depressive illness: prospective evidence from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

CONTEXT

As a group, comorbid anxiety disorders among depressed persons have consistently been found to increase risk of suicide attempt (SA). Growing evidence supports the link between panic attacks (PAs) and suicidality, but prospective evidence is limited and the nature of the linkage remains unclear. The positive-feedback model of suicide suggests that PAs eliciting catastrophic cognitions may drive SA.

OBJECTIVE

To prospectively examine the relationship between PAs, panic symptoms and suicidality in individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for past-year major depressive episodes in a large epidemiological study.

METHODS

In data on 2,864 participants of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) wave 1 and 2 surveys with depressive disorders, the associations of PAs and panic symptoms with subsequent suicidal ideation (SI) and SAs were assessed using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Past-year PAs in wave 1 significantly increased odds for subsequent SI and attempt in the 3-year follow-up interval; however, in multivariate analyses, PAs were not a significant predictor, but PAs featuring fear of dying were. Further, among subjects with PAs, fear of dying during a PA increased the odds of subsequent SA sevenfold, even after controlling for comorbid disorders, demographic factors, and other PA symptoms.

CONCLUSION

PAs characterized by prominent morbid catastrophic cognitions may mediate the transition to SIs and SAs in subjects with depressive episodes. Presence of these symptoms in clinical settings may serve as a warning sign for future suicidality.

Distinctive emotional responses of clinicians to suicide-attempting patients--a comparative study

BACKGROUND

Clinician responses to patients have been recognized as an important factor in treatment outcome. Clinician responses to suicidal patients have received little attention in the literature however, and no quantitative studies have been published. Further, although patients with high versus low lethality suicidal behaviors have been speculated to represent two distinct populations, clinicians' emotional responses to them have not been examined.

METHODS

Clinicians' responses to their patients when last seeing them prior to patients' suicide attempt or death were assessed retrospectively with the Therapist Response/Countertransference Questionnaire, administered anonymously via an Internet survey service. Scores on individual items and subscale scores were compared between groups, and linear discriminant analysis was applied to determine the combination of items that best discriminated between groups.

RESULTS

Clinicians reported on patients who completed suicide, made high-lethality attempts, low-lethality attempts, or died unexpected non-suicidal deaths in a total of 82 cases. We found that clinicians treating imminently suicidal patients had less positive feelings towards these patients than for non-suicidal patients, but had higher hopes for their treatment, while finding themselves notably more overwhelmed, distressed by, and to some degree avoidant of them. Further, we found that the specific paradoxical combination of hopefulness and distress/avoidance was a significant discriminator between suicidal patients and those who died unexpected non-suicidal deaths with 90% sensitivity and 56% specificity. In addition, we identified one questionnaire item that discriminated significantly between high- and low-lethality suicide patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicians' emotional responses to patients at risk versus not at risk for imminent suicide attempt may be distinct in ways consistent with responses theorized by Maltsberger and Buie in 1974. Prospective replication is needed to confirm these results, however. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of using quantitative self-report methodologies for investigation of the relationship between clinicians' emotional responses to suicidal patients and suicide risk.

Emergency room validation of the revised Suicide Trigger Scale (STS-3): a measure of a hypothesized suicide trigger state

BACKGROUND

The Suicide Trigger Scale (STS) was designed to measure the construct of an affective 'suicide trigger state.' This study aims to extend the inpatient setting validation study of the original Suicide Trigger Scale version 2 to the revised Suicide Trigger Scale version 3 (STS-3) in an acute psychiatric emergency room setting.

METHODS

The 42-item STS-3 and a brief psychological test battery were administered to 183 adult psychiatric patients with suicidal ideation or attempt in the psychiatric emergency room, and re-administered to subjects at 1 year follow up. Factor analysis, linear and logistic regressions were used to examine construct structure, divergent and convergent validity, and construct validity, respectively.

RESULTS

The STS-3 demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.94). Factor analysis yielded a three-factor solution, which explained 43.4% of the variance. Principal axis factor analysis was used to identify three reliable subscales: Frantic Hopelessness, Ruminative Flooding, and Near-Psychotic Somatization (Cronbach's alphas 0.90, 0.80, and 0.76, respectively). Significant positive associations were observed between Frantic Hopelessness and BSI depression and anxiety subscales, between Ruminative Flooding and BSI anxiety and paranoia subscales, and Near Psychotic Somatization and BSI somatization subscales. Suicidal subjects with suicide attempt history had mean scores 7 points higher than those without history of suicide attempts. Frantic hopelessness was a significant predictor of current suicide attempt when only attempts requiring at least some medical attention were considered.

CONCLUSION

The STS-3 measures a distinct clinical entity, provisionally termed the 'suicide trigger state.' Scores on the STS-3 or select subscales appear to relate to degree of suicidality in terms of severity of ideation, history of attempt, and presence of substantive current attempts. Further study is required to confirm the factor structure and better understand the nature of these relations.