"Are You Having Thoughts of Suicide?" Examining Experiences With Disclosing and Denying Suicidal Ideation.

OBJECTIVE To characterize individuals' prior experiences with being asked whether they are having thoughts of suicide and to understand factors that affected their response accuracy. METHOD Undergraduates (N = 306) reporting a lifetime history of suicidal ideation completed a web-based survey about their experiences being probed about suicidal thoughts. RESULTS Nearly two-thirds of participants (63.1%) reported having been previously asked whether they were having thoughts of suicide, with health care providers comprising the plurality of probers. Individuals reported the greatest accuracy of ideation disclosure to mental health professionals. Stigma-related concerns were the most common barriers to accurate disclosure of ideation, whereas wanting emotional support and the prober to understand them were cited as facilitators for accurately responding. CONCLUSION A number of factors influence the accurate and inaccurate disclosure of suicidal ideation. Further research is needed to understand how to facilitate accurate disclosure of suicidal ideation across settings and populations.

[1]  R. Kessler,et al.  First onset of suicidal thoughts and behaviours in college. , 2017, Journal of affective disorders.

[2]  Mick Ballesteros,et al.  161 An evaluation of CDC’s web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS) , 2016 .

[3]  T. Joiner,et al.  Routinized Assessment of Suicide Risk in Clinical Practice: An Empirically Informed Update. , 2015, Journal of clinical psychology.

[4]  Michael D Anestis,et al.  The Impact of Varying Levels of Confidentiality on Disclosure of Suicidal Thoughts in a Sample of United States National Guard Personnel. , 2015, Journal of clinical psychology.

[5]  T. Joiner,et al.  Evaluating factors and interventions that influence help-seeking and mental health service utilization among suicidal individuals: A review of the literature. , 2015, Clinical psychology review.

[6]  S. Stieger,et al.  A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Suicidal Disclosures and Attitudes in Austrian and Turkish University Students , 2015, Death studies.

[7]  Justin E. Heinze,et al.  Variations in Student Mental Health and Treatment Utilization Across US Colleges and Universities , 2015, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[8]  Gregory K Brown,et al.  Evidence-based psychotherapies for suicide prevention: future directions. , 2014, American journal of preventive medicine.

[9]  Kelly C. Cukrowicz,et al.  What factors determine disclosure of suicide ideation in adults 60 and older to a treatment provider? , 2014, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[10]  S. Ólafsdóttir,et al.  Beyond dichotomies: confronting the complexity of how and why individuals come or do not come to mental health care , 2013, World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association.

[11]  Lauren M. Denneson,et al.  Trust is the Basis for Effective Suicide Risk Screening and Assessment in Veterans , 2013, Journal of General Internal Medicine.

[12]  M. Allen,et al.  Preventing suicide through improved training in suicide risk assessment and care: an American Association of Suicidology Task Force report addressing serious gaps in U.S. mental health training. , 2012, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[13]  Mahzarin R. Banaji,et al.  Measuring the Suicidal Mind , 2010, Psychological science.

[14]  Jing Guo,et al.  Randomized trial of a gatekeeper program for suicide prevention: 1-year impact on secondary school staff. , 2008, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[15]  David R. Williams,et al.  Cross-national prevalence and risk factors for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts , 2008, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[16]  L. Whitbeck,et al.  Cultural considerations in adolescent suicide prevention and psychosocial treatment. , 2008, The American psychologist.

[17]  Matthew K Nock,et al.  Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview: development, reliability, and validity in an adolescent sample. , 2007, Psychological assessment.

[18]  L. Olson,et al.  Utah youth suicide study: barriers to mental health treatment for adolescents. , 2007, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[19]  Craig J Bryan,et al.  Advances in the assessment of suicide risk. , 2006, Journal of clinical psychology.

[20]  F. Deane,et al.  Suicidal ideation and help-negation: Not just hopelessness or prior help. , 2001, Journal of clinical psychology.

[21]  W. Sanderson,et al.  Suicide assessment: clinical interview vs. self-report. , 1994, Journal of clinical psychology.