The Connection Between Thwarted Belongingness, Alcohol Consumption, Suicidal, and Homicidal Ideation in a Criminal Justice Sample.

BACKGROUND: To determine if thwarted belongingness in combination with frequent alcohol use increased suicidal and homicidal ideation when known predictors were controlled for (eg, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, drug use, race, sex, age, and employment status). METHOD: This study utilized an archival database. Participants were 574 individuals at an outpatient substance abuse treatment facility who were under community corrections supervision. The average age was 34.5 (SD = 10.9) years; there were 371 (64.6%) men and 287 (50.0%) Black participants. Data were originally gathered from face-to-face interviews with the participants by their case manager or an intake specialist when they entered treatment. Self-reported suicidal and homicidal ideation was used as a dependent variable in unadjusted and adjusted binary logistic regressions to determine the influence of thwarted belongingness and frequent alcohol use. RESULTS: Thwarted belongingness alone (ie, without frequent alcohol use) was associated with risk for suicidal ideation, and was approaching significance for homicidal ideation. The combination of thwarted belongingness and frequent alcohol use was associated with the greatest risk for suicidal and homicidal ideation. Cocaine use and employment status were also identified as significant predictors for suicidal and homicidal ideation in the fully adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS: Thwarted belongingness in combination with frequent alcohol use seems to have a large and meaningful relationship with both suicidal and homicidal ideation. Additional research is needed to better understand the relationship between alcohol, thwarted belongingness, and outcomes such as suicide and homicide.

Cognitive risk profiles for anxiety disorders in a high-risk population.

The purpose of the present study was to identify subgroups of participants who may be at particularly high risk for anxiety pathology based on specific combinations of demographic characteristics and higher-order cognitive abilities in a population at disproportionate risk for deficits in cognitive abilities (i.e., smokers within the criminal justice system). Participants (N=495) provided demographic information, were administered a semi-structured diagnostic interview, and completed a number of measures assessing cognitive abilities. A receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) model using signal detection theory indicated that the strongest predictor of anxiety disorder diagnosis was race, with White participants having a 30.6% likelihood of diagnosis and participants in the non-White category (97% of which identified as Black/African American) having a 18.9% likelihood of diagnosis. Interestingly, the individual risk profile associated with the highest probability of having a current anxiety disorder was characterized by White participants with impaired response inhibition (58.6%), and the lowest probability of having a current anxiety disorder was among non-White males (13.9%). The findings, which indicated that White individuals with impaired response inhibition are at a disproportionately high risk for anxiety disorders, suggest a potential target for prevention and intervention.