Interpersonal and intrapersonal predictors of suicidal thoughts and actions in first-year college students.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine the unique predictors of suicide risk in first-year college students. PARTICIPANTS: First-year students (N = 665) at a Midwestern university participated. METHODS: An online survey assessed Joiner's interpersonal factors (i.e., thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability) as well as intrapersonal factors (i.e., perfectionism, self-compassion, emotional intelligence/reactivity, and growth mindset) often associated with suicidal thoughts and actions. RESULTS: Linear regression indicated that the factor set significantly predicted thoughts, F (12, 632) = 114.90, p < .000, R2 = .680, and actions, F (12, 632) = 58.42, p < .000, R2 = .526. Perceived burdensomeness, acquired capability, and underrepresented sexual orientation were positive predictors of both thoughts and actions, whereas growth mindset was a negative predictor of thoughts and stressful life events was a positive predictor of actions. CONCLUSION: The results offer direction for evidence-informed interventions aimed at reducing suicide risk in first-year college students.

Child Sexual Abuse Survivors' Grief Experiences After the Death of the Abuser.

This qualitative study examined the language of women who were child sexual abuse survivors (N = 16) to gain insight into their grief experiences following the death of their abusers. Participants ranged in age from 22 to 62 years (M = 47.4) and the majority were White, had been abused by a family member, and had sought child sexual abuse-related counseling. Five primary themes emerged during analysis: (a) grief reflecting a complex relationship; (b) loss of opportunity for confrontation, clarity, and connection; (c) funeral as liability, not benefit; (d) others' lack of understanding of multilayered grief; and (e) coping through transformation. Discussion illuminates sense-making and connections between themes and existing thanatological concepts and research.

Testing the predictions of the existential constructivist theory of suicide in a college student sample.

There is a lack of empirically supported theories explaining suicidal ideation and few theories describe how suicidal ideation can be prevented in the context of normative human development. Rogers (2001) proposed an existential constructivist theory of suicide (ECTS) wherein existential distress and the inability to reconstruct meaning from adverse life events contribute to suicidal ideation. The ECTS includes a distinct focus on meaning reconstruction from adverse life events, which is congruent with existing research on college students and developmental frameworks used by counseling psychologists. Thus, in the present study, we tested the predictions of the ECTS in a college student sample. We collected data online from 195 college students (i.e., ages 18-25) attending a large, Midwestern university and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. Findings provided partial support for the original ECTS. Post hoc analyses of an alternate ECTS model indicated that existential distress mediated the negative association between meaning reconstruction and suicidal ideation. (PsycINFO Database Record

College student grief, grief differences, family communication, and family satisfaction.

Although family grief communication has received solid research attention, few studies have examined how communication about grief differences among family members may relate to college students' grief experiences and family satisfaction. Online survey data were collected from emerging adults attending college (n = 335) at a large Midwestern university and analyzed using hierarchical multiple regressions. Findings indicated that family communication about grief differences was positively associated with family satisfaction but was not related to individual grief reactions. This study contributes to the understanding of family grief communication among college students and offers implications for student affairs personnel working with grieving college students.

College Student Adjustment and Coping.

The present study examined the coping-related predictors of four domains of college adjustment (i.e., academic, social, personal or emotional, and institutional attachment) for bereaved and nonbereaved students ( N = 225). Findings indicated that support from friends was positively associated with academic and social adjustment and institutional attachment and that avoidant emotional-focused coping was negatively associated with all domains of adjustment for both bereaved and nonbereaved students. Interaction effects indicated that institutional attachment was lower at high levels of problem-focused coping for bereaved students and that bereaved students exhibited lower levels of both social adjustment and institutional attachment at low levels of family support, whereas nonbereaved students exhibited lower social adjustment at high levels of family support. Directions for future research and implications for practice and higher education policy are offered.

College and the grieving student: A mixed-methods analysis.

The current mixed-methods study examines how college students negotiate the grief process with the competing demands of college. Data were collected from 950 students at a regional comprehensive university and a research intensive institution. Quantitative findings revealed closeness to the deceased as a key positive predictor of mental health and academic difficulties and positive associations between changes in peer relationships and mental health difficulties. Qualitative findings showed that closeness to the deceased was associated with a greater sense of purpose in the college experience and findings suggested that institutions and their faculty encourage and exhibit more sensitivity about grief issues.

International and Domestic Students, Perceived Burdensomeness, Belongingness, and Suicidal Ideation.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for traditional-age college students, and the interpersonal theory of suicide (ITS; Joiner, 2005) provides a cogent framework for predicting which students may be at highest risk. However, little is known about how constructs of ITS operate in cross-cultural contexts. Findings, based on a sample of international and domestic undergraduate students (N = 254), indicated that the ITS construct of perceived burdensomeness was positively associated with suicidal ideation (SI) for both groups. However, campus belongingness emerged as connected with SI for international students, whereas family belongingness emerged as connected with SI for domestic students.

College student suicidal ideation: Perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and meaning made of stress.

The interpersonal theory of suicide (ITS) posits that suicidal ideation is interpersonal in nature. More specifically, in the ITS, perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness are dynamic cognitive-affective interpersonal states that engender suicidal ideation. However, intrapersonal (i.e., within the self) existential protective factors for suicidal ideation, such as the ability to make meaning from stressful life events, remain relatively unexplored. The authors examined the degree to which interpersonal and intrapersonal variables contribute to the variance of suicidal ideation in college students (n = 165). Results indicated that students' meaning made of stress was negatively and uniquely associated with suicidal ideation after controlling for ITS interpersonal contributions.

Belongingness and suicidal ideation in college students.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, the relationships between 3 specific domains of belongingness (ie, family, peers, and academic institution) were examined with respect to suicidal ideation. PARTICIPANTS: A sample (N=249) of undergraduate students was recruited from a large, midwestern university during the Spring 2013 semester. METHODS: Multiple regression analysis examined whether the 3 specific domains of belongingness (ie, family, peers, and academic institution) significantly contributed to explaining variance in suicidal ideation. RESULTS: Findings indicated that the 3 domains of belongingness accounted for 9.4% of the variance for suicidal ideation. Family belongingness was the only domain of belongingness that made a significant, unique, and negative contribution to suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: Students' family belongingness seems to have a significant role in their manifestation of suicidal ideation.

Using service-learning to integrate death education into counselor preparation.

Service-learning can be a meaningful and effective tool for integrating death education into counselor preparation. The authors describe the design, implementation, reflection process, and evaluation of a service-learning based support program for grieving families and offer suggestions for death educators interested in service-learning as pedagogy. Their evaluation indicated that students who took a graduate-level group counseling course with a service-learning component exhibited lower distress in death-related clinical situations than students who took the course without the service component. Service-learning is closely aligned with death education aims and can be used to enhance counselor preparation program curricular alignment with relevant accreditation standards.

Stress, coping, and internet use of college students.

UNLABELLED: College students experience stressful life events and little research exists on the role the Internet may play in students' coping. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to examine associations among perceived stress, time spent on the Internet, underlying motives for utilizing the Internet, problematic Internet use, and traditional approaches to coping. PARTICIPANTS: Data were collected from 267 college seniors during March of 2011. METHODS: Participants completed an online survey containing measures of coping, motives for utilizing the Internet, problematic online behavior, perceived stress, and background information. RESULTS: Being female, avoidant-emotional coping, and online motive to cope were positively associated with perceived stress and months since most stressful life event and online motive to enhance were negatively associated with stress. CONCLUSIONS: Professionals working with college students will benefit from using a nuanced approach to assessing students' online behavior, including an assessment of underlying motives for use.

College students' beliefs about supporting a grieving peer.

The present study used I. Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior (TBP) to explore college students' beliefs about listening supportively to a grieving friend. Responses to open-ended questions suggested that students (N = 23) perceived both benefits and risks, connected with listening supportively, for the grieving friend and for themselves. In addition, students perceived "requirements" associated with listening supportively to a grieving friend such as the need for time, a quiet place to talk, and previous experience with grief.

Hardiness and grief in a sample of bereaved college students.

The relationship between hardiness and both grief symptoms and personal growth were investigated in a sample of bereaved college students. Hardiness was inversely associated with grief symptoms and offered prediction of grief misery above and beyond that provided by more commonly investigated individual and death-related variables. Hardiness was not linearly associated with personal growth; however, results suggest the need for future research focused on the comprehensive evaluation of the potential non-linear relationship between these constructs. Closeness to the deceased was a significant and linear predictor of personal growth. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.

Childhood sexual abuse and multiple dimensions of self-concept.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and self-concept in a nonclinical sample of female college students. Participants with a history of CSA had lower scores than participants without a history of CSA on four domains of self-concept: familial, affect, competence, and physical. History of CSA was not associated with lower self-concept in the social and academic domains. The primary conclusions to be drawn from this study are that CSA may be differentially associated with various domains of self-concept, and thus multidimensional assessment of self-concept can yield useful information that cannot be gathered from global measures which yield a single composite score.

Adolescent grief: relationship category and emotional closeness.

Bereaved adolescents (N = 90) who had experienced relatively common death losses (e.g., grandparent, friend) completed the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief and the Emotional Closeness Scale and Continuum. Results indicated that present grief was significantly higher for friend than for grandparent death loss. A MANOVA revealed that those in the high closeness group reported significantly higher mean scores on past and present grief than those in the low closeness group. Finally, in a hierarchal multiple regression, after demographic variables were entered (e.g., age, present at death), emotional closeness added significant variance to the prediction of past and present grief. This research contributes to the understanding of grief intensity following adolescents' most common death losses and highlights the importance of counselors' intentionally and directly assessing bereaved adolescents' perceived emotional closeness to the deceased as part of grief-related counseling.

Notifying individual students of a death loss: practical recommendations for schools and school counselors.

Although there is a growing body of literature focused on child and adolescent grief, surprisingly little information addresses the needs of school communities with regard to death. The emerging literature has focused primarily on crisis management when someone within the school community dies. Neglect has been the more common occurrence in which an individual child must be notified of the death of someone close. This article provides practical recommendations for schools and school counselors regarding preparation and follow-up associated with individual death notification situations, as well as specific suggestions pertaining to the who, when, where, and how of notification. Recommendations offered are based on a synthesis of relevant research and literature (e.g., children and death, general death notification, school culture), the clinical experience of the authors, and the collective wisdom of a sample of school counselors currently working in the field.