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This research investigated the latent structure and correlates of the 26-item Painful and Provocative Events Scale (PPES). For a sample of 290 community respondents, results from parallel analysis indicated a 5-factor structure. Based on principal axis factoring with varimax rotation, scales of Intense physicality, Physical and mental trauma, Physical risk taking, Psychopathy, and Body enhancement were constructed, and these demonstrated a pattern of convergent and discriminant correlations with suicide-associated and demographic variables that supported the delineation of these scales as being distinct. In general, results challenge the current scoring of the PPES and, with developed scales being differentially related to demographic variables, indicate that both respondent age and sex require consideration for scale score interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual and reflective paper begins by emphasising that the assessment of suicide risk requires theoretical knowledge in suicidology, and that suicidal behaviour is not a linear phenomenon. Next, the concept of unacceptable loss thresholds is discussed. The following topic highlights the need for an adequate education and training for psychologists, given the difficulty in assessing risk, and discusses the alert signs for suicidal behaviour. The following one focuses specifically on clinical risk assessment situations, emphasizing that suicidal ideation and risk are extremely volatile, so the assessment should not be done at an isolated moment in time. Various types of suicide risk assessment instruments are then analysed: assessment scales, checklists and risk indicators, as well as self-report instruments. Then we refer to the scarcity of this type of instrument in Portugal and describe some instruments available in our country. Finally, a dichotomy is discussed: implicit/indirect methods versus direct/self-report methods and a brief clinical note is presented. It is concluded that it is useful to use several types of methods, but also that a “strict” assessment of risk factors is insufficient and that risk assessment should be carried out at several levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tolerance for psychological pain is a central construct in some perspectives about suicide. The aim of this research is to present validation studies of the Tolerance for Mental Pain Scale-10 (TMPS-10) for the Portuguese population. This instrument operationalizes two facets of tolerance for mental pain: managing the pain and enduring the pain. In the first study, involving a community sample of 437 individuals, exploratory factor analysis showed the existence of two factors with adequate internal consistency. The second study carried out with a sample of 316 university students and allowed testing for the instrument’s convergent validity. Negative and significant correlation values with both the Psychache Scale and the Suicide Ideation Scale were obtained. The criterion-related validity using “previous suicide attempt” was also tested and the two-factor result obtained in the first study was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present investigation, we used structural equation modeling with 251 adolescents to reveal, through path analyses, the degree to which somatization might mediate the relationships between body image and self-harming behaviors. After controlling for the effects of (a) age, (b) gender, and (c) having previously visited a psychologist, we observed that somatization fully mediated both the relationship between body image and self-harming behaviors and the relationship between gender and self-harming behaviors. These results suggest that having a less satisfied relationship with the body or a more negative body image is closely related to a somatic experience of greater psychological suffering, which could lead, in turn, to a more active expression of this suffering through self-harming behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Portuguese questionnaire was developed to assess the history of depressive symptoms. The Depressive History Questionnaire was based on the Depressive Experience Subscale from the Thalbourne Manic Depressiveness Scale, which was translated into Portuguese. The Depressive History Questionnaire was administered to 459 college students. Female students scored significantly higher than male students. Cronbach alpha was .64. Principal component analysis confirmed that the questionnaire measures only one dimension. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the fit of the one-factor model. The Depressive History Questionnaire correlated positively and significantly with the Portuguese versions of both the Beck Depression Inventory-II and the Depressive Personality Disorder Inventory.

Objectives: This study tested the mediation effects of two facets of psychache – bearable and unbearable – in the relationship between exposure to suicide in the family and suicidal ideation in Portugal during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Methods: Two hundred and forty‐four adults aged between 19 and 64 participated. Two groups were defined: one exposed to suicide in the family (n = 42) and a control group (n = 192). Results: Path analysis using structural equation modelling tested a mediation model. Results demonstrated that unbearable psychache fully mediated the relationship between exposure to suicide and suicidal ideation, even when controlling for the mediation effects of depressive symptoms, the presence of a psychiatric diagnosis, and years of education. Conclusions: These results suggest that rather than considering just the global experience of psychache in individuals exposed to suicide, researchers and clinicians should look to the presence of unbearable psychache given its contribution to suicidal ideation. Practitioner points: Unbearable psychache fully mediated the relationship between exposure to suicide in the family and suicidal ideationIt is not the global experience of psychache that contributes to suicide ideation in individuals exposed to suicide in the family rather the presence of unbearable psychache [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The association between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation has been well documented in several populations, including individuals with a substance use disorder (SUD). However, a gap still exists in the literature regarding the mechanisms by which childhood trauma later impacts suicide risk. This cross‐sectional study tested the effect of childhood trauma on suicidal ideation, as well as the mediating effect of tolerance for psychological pain (managing the pain and enduring the pain) in that relationship, controlling for the effect of depressive symptoms, in individuals with a SUD. Methods: A sample of 102 adults with a SUD participated in the study. Path analysis by structural equation modelling tested a mediation model. Results: Depressive symptoms and lower levels of managing the pain were found to fully mediate the association between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation. Conclusions: Our results suggest that depressive symptoms and a lack of ability to manage psychological pain contribute towards explaining why traumatic childhood experiences may result in suicidal cognitions in individuals with SUDs. Moreover, they have relevant implications for prevention and clinical interventions regarding suicidal ideation in this population. Practitioner points: Childhood trauma relates to suicidal ideation in individuals with a substance use disorder.Depressive symptoms contribute towards explaining why traumatic childhood experiences may result in suicidal cognitions.A lack of ability to manage psychological pain also contributes towards explaining this relationship.The obtained results have relevant implications for the prevention of and clinical intervention for suicidal ideation in SUD individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 5-month, 2-wave study evaluated the mediating effects of psychache and unmet interpersonal needs on the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide ideation in 208 young adults, controlling for depression. Path analysis demonstrated that changes in depression, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belongingness mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and changes in positive suicide ideation, and that changes in depression and perceived burdensomeness mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and changes in negative suicide ideation. Results indicated the importance of assessing interpersonal needs, in addition to depression, for understanding the mechanism linking childhood trauma to suicide ideation in young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across two countries and two languages, this research examined the multidimensional associations of suicide behaviors (i.e., life-time attempts, life-time communication of intent to others, life-time self-harming, life-time suicide notes, and current suicide ideation) and empirically relevant psychological risk factors (i.e., different facets of mental pain, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and acquired capability), controlling for depressive symptoms. For the Portuguese sample, two underlying dimensions emerged: an ideation dimension and a behavioral dimension, and for the Canadian sample, three dimensions emerged: an ideation dimension and two behavioral dimensions that can be viewed as a splitting of the Portuguese second dimension. Results highlight possible cultural differences between the two countries and that suicide behaviors should be viewed as a multidimensional phenomenon not as a one-dimensional continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]