A Systematic Review of the Antecedents and Prevalence of Suicide, Self-Harm and Suicide Ideation in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth.

Suicide and self-harm represent serious global health problems and appear to be especially elevated amongst indigenous minority groups, and particularly amongst young people (aged 24 years or younger). This systematic review investigates for the first time the antecedents and prevalence of suicide, self-harm and suicide ideation among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth. Web of Science, PubMed, PsychINFO, CINAHL databases and grey literature were searched from earliest records to April 2019 for eligible articles. Twenty-two empirical articles met the inclusion criteria. The data confirmed that indigenous youth in Australia have elevated rates of suicide, self-harm and suicidal ideation relative to the nonindigenous population. Risk factors included being incarcerated, substance use and greater social and emotional distress. Notably, though, information on predictors of suicide and self-harm remains scarce. The findings support and justify the increasing implementation of public health programs specifically aimed at tackling this crisis. Based on the review findings, we argued that Aboriginal communities are best positioned to identify and understand the antecedents of youth self-harm, suicide ideation and suicide, and to take the lead in the development of more effective mental health preventive strategies and public policies within their communities.

The Relationship Between Neurocognitive Functioning and Occupational Functioning in Bipolar Disorder: A Literature Review.

Neurocognitive impairment in Bipolar Disorder (BD) has been widely reported, even during remission. Neurocognitive impairment has been identified as a contributing factor towards unfavourable psychosocial functioning within this population. The objective of this review was to investigate the association between neurocognitive impairment and occupational functioning in BD. A literature review of English-language journal articles from January 1990 to November 2013 was undertaken utilising the PsychINFO, Scopus and Web of Knowledge databases. Studies that made specific reference to occupational outcomes were included, and those that reported on global psychosocial measures were excluded. Majority of the papers reviewed (20 out of 23) identified an association between neurocognitive impairment (particularly in executive functioning, verbal learning and memory, processing speed and attention) and occupational functioning. Several methodological issues were identified. There was a discrepancy in the measures used to assess neurocognitive function across studies and also the definition and measurement of occupational functioning. The clinical features of the samples varied across studies, and confounding variables were intermittently controlled. The review focused on English-language papers only and hence there is a bias toward the Western labour market. These limitations therefore influence the generalizability of the interpreted findings and the reliability of comparisons across studies. Neurocognitive impairment in BD appears to play a role in occupational outcomes. The findings of this review highlight the challenges for future research in this area, particularly in the measurement of neurocognitive and occupational functioning. Incorporating neurocognitive interventions in the treatment of BD, which has traditionally focussed solely on symptomatic recovery, may advance the vocational rehabilitation of these patients.

Emotion regulation and Residual Depression Predict Psychosocial Functioning in Bipolar Disorder: Preliminary Study / Regulación de las emociones y la depresión residual predicen el funcionamiento psicosocial en el trastorno bipolar: estudio preliminar

This study explores the predictive value of various clinical, neuropsychological, functional, and emotion regulation processes for recovery in Bipolar Disorder. Clinical and demographic information was collected for 27 euthymic or residually depressed BD participants. Seventy one percent of the sample reported some degree of impairment in psychosocial functioning. Both residual depression and problems with emotion regulation were identified as significant predictors of poor psychosocial functioning. In addition, to residual depression, the results of the current study introduce a variable of emotion dysregulation to account for poor psychosocial functioning among BD populations. Improving emotion regulation strategies, in particular, concentration and task accomplishment during negative emotional states could have important consequences for improving overall psychosocial functioning among this population, helping to reduce both the economic burden and high costs to personal wellbeing associated with BD.

Este estudio explora el valor predictivo de los diversos procesos de regulación clínicos, neuropsicológicos, funcionales y emocionales para la recuperación en el Trastorno Bipolar. La información clínica y demográfica se recogió de 27 participantes de TB eutímicos o residualmente deprimidos. Setenta y uno por ciento de la muestra reportó algún grado de deterioro en el funcionamiento psicosocial. Tanto la depresión residual y problemas con la regulación de las emociones fueron identificados como predictores significativos de mal funcionamiento psicosocial. Además de la depresión residual, los resultados del presente estudio introducen una variable de disregulación emocional para dar cuenta del pobre funcionamiento psicosocial en las poblaciones de TB. La mejora de las estrategias de regulación emocional, en particular, la concentración y la realización de tareas durante los estados emocionales negativos podrían tener consecuencias importantes para mejorar el funcionamiento psicosocial global en esta población ayudando a reducir tanto la carga económica y los altos costos para el bienestar personal asociado con TB.