Suzanne McLaren

Social relationships as predictors of depression and suicidal ideation in older adults

The prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation among older adults is considered to be a major mental health concern among this age group. The present study investigated the human relatedness variables of marital status, social support resources and sense of belonging as predictors of depression and suicidal ideation in older adults. A community sample of 110 older adults (M age 76.67 years, SD = 8.11) completed the Social Support Subscale of the Coping Resources Inventory, the Sense of Belonging Instrument, the Zung Depression Inventory and the Suicide Subscale of the General Health Questionnaire. Results indicated that fewer social support resources were associated with higher levels of depression and suicidal ideation. Sense of belonging to the community was not an additional predictor of mental health. The results of the present study suggest that enhancing social support resources in older adults could reduce depression and suicidal ideation.

Resilience Among Men Farmers: The Protective Roles of Social Support and Sense of Belonging in the Depression-Suicidal Ideation Relation

This study investigated the applicability of 3 models of resiliency for the prediction of suicidal ideation from depression (the risk factor) and social support and sense of belonging (the protective factors). A sample of 99 Australian men farmers completed measures of depression, suicidal ideas, social support, and sense of belonging. Sense of belonging compensated for high levels of depression, and social support, sense of belonging, and an increasing number of protective factors each weakened the depression–suicidal ideation relation. The findings are limited because of the small sample and reliance on self-report measures, but suggest that increasing social support and sense of belonging may benefit the mental health of men farmers.

Sense of Belonging to the General and Lesbian Communities as Predictors of Depression Among Lesbians

Research has indicated that a sense of belonging is important for mental health. This study investigated sense of belonging to the general community and sense of belonging to the lesbian community as predictors of depression among self-identified lesbians (n = 178). Participants completed the Psychological subscale of the Sense of Belonging Instrument and the Depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Results showed that although sense of belonging to the general community and sense of belonging to the lesbian community were directly related to depression, only sense of belonging to the general community contributed significantly to the prediction of depression when they were entered together in a regression analysis. Sense of belonging to the general community and sense of belonging to the lesbian community interacted in the prediction of depression. Low sense of belonging to the general community buffered the association between sense of belonging to the lesbian community and depression, while high sense of belonging to the general community exacerbated the association between sense of belonging to the lesbian community and depression. Results also showed that sense of belonging to the general community mediated the relation between sense of belonging to the lesbian community and depression. Results imply that enhancing a sense of belonging to the general community should be a priority for lesbians who do not feel that they belong to the lesbian community.

Sense of belonging as a predictor of reasons for living in older adults.

In response to the high rate of suicide among aging people, this study investigated sense of belonging as a predictor of reasons for living in an aged sample. A community sample of 104 Australians aged 61 to 95 years completed The Reasons for Living Inventory and The Sense of Belonging Instrument. Results indicated that a higher sense of belonging predicted more reasons to live overall, and child-related concerns, responsibility to family, and survival and coping beliefs, specifically. Future research should investigate if the enhancement of a sense of belonging among older adults is associated with an increase in reasons for living.

Sense of Belonging and Depressive Symptoms Among GLB Adolescents

Research has indicated that gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) adolescents are at an increased risk of mental health problems. Research has also indicated that experiencing a sense of belonging is important for ones mental health. This study investigated sense of belonging to the general community and sense of belonging to a GLB specific youth group (Minus18) as predictors of depressive symptoms among self-identified GLB adolescents (N = 99). Participants completed the Sense of Belonging Instrument and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results showed that although sense of belonging to the general community and sense of belonging to the Minus18 community were both directly related to depression, only sense of belonging to the general community contributed significantly to the prediction of depression when they were entered simultaneously in a regression analysis. Results also showed that sense of belonging to the general community mediated the relation between sense of belonging to the Minus18 community and depression. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at increasing sense of belonging to a GLB-specific community are likely to be of indirect benefit to the mental health of GLB adolescents, whereas interventions aimed at increasing sense of belonging to the general community are likely to be of direct benefit to the mental health of GLB adolescents.

The effects of reward and punishment on response disinhibition, moods, heart rate and skin conductance level during instrumental learning

Abstract The study examined the effects of reward and punishment on response disinhibition, happy and nervous moods, heart rate and skin conductance levels during performance of an instrumental learning task. For one group of subjects (the reward group), correct responses were reinforced with a small monetary reward, while for another group (the punishment group), incorrect responses led to a small loss of money. Results indicated that subjects in the punishment group made fewer disinhibitory responses, were more nervous and less happy, and had a higher skin conductance level compared with subjects in the reward group. For both groups, these measures (and heart rate) did not correlate with each other, or with trait impulsivity or trait anxiety. These findings are discussed in relation to Grays theory of behavioural inhibition system (BIS) and behavioural approach system (BAS).

The longitudinal effects of midwife‐led postnatal debriefing on the psychological health of mothers

To assess the effect of midwife‐led postpartum debriefing on psychological variables, 149 women were recruited in the third trimester of their pregnancy and were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Women in the treatment group received midwife‐led postpartum debriefing within 3 days postpartum, whereas women in the control group did not receive formalised debriefing. Background information and psychological variables were assessed in the prepartum, and birthing information was gathered 2 days postpartum. The psychological variables, plus a measure of birth trauma, were re‐assessed at 1 month, and again, together with a measure of parenting stress, at 3 months postpartum. Although the majority of women reported positively on their debriefing experience, statistical analyses indicated that only on the measure of dyadic satisfaction was there some suggestion that debriefing was effective. There were no significant differences between the treatment and control groups on measures of personal information, depression, anxiety, trauma, perception of the birth, or parenting stress at any assessment points, postpartum. On the other hand, the effect of medical intervention on womens perceptions of their birthing was evident, with women who experienced more medical intervention reporting more negative perceptions of their birthing than women who had experienced less medical intervention. Surprisingly, this difference was more marked among the women who had been debriefed than among the control group. Generally, the results did not support midwife‐led debriefing as an effective intervention postpartum.

Rural‐urban differences in reasons for living

Objective: The suicide rate in Australia is cause for concern, especially the increase in attempted and completed suicides in rural and regional locations. The present study examined reasons for choosing not to commit suicide as a function of residential location. Method: The study involved 655 Victorian residents from four population-based strata; urban, regional city, regional town, and rural. Results: Results from the Reasons for Living Inventory revealed significant differences as a function of residential location. Overall, residents in rural locations reported having significantly more to live for than their urban counterparts. Further analysis of six reasons for living (child, family, moral, social, coping and death-related concerns) showed a pattern whereby residents in rural locations reported having the most to live for, followed by regional residents, and urban residents who reported having the least to live for. Conclusions: These findings are in contrast to increase of suicide rates in rural areas, and highlight the need for a greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying suicidal behaviour.

Evaluation of the bifactor structure of the dispositional hope scale.

The Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS; Snyder et al., 1991) is composed of items assessing an individuals perception of his or her agency and pathways. This study examined support for the bifactor structure and relation of the factors in this model with depressive symptoms. It also examined cross-gender measurement invariance for the bifactor model. A community sample of 413 women and 257 men completed the DHS. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated more support for the bifactor model than the 1- and 2-factor models. Results also indicated full measurement invariance across gender for the bifactor and the 2-factor models. The general and the specific agency factors, but not the specific pathways factor, correlated with depressive symptoms. The better support for the bifactor model suggests that ideally hope has to be measured and examined by factors reflecting high covariance for agency and pathways, and also factors reflecting unique variances for agency and pathways. The support for full cross-gender measurement invariance indicated that there are no differences in measurement and scaling properties for the DHS across ratings provided by women and men, and therefore the DHS ratings can be scored in the same way for women and men.

A psychological pathway from insomnia to depression among older adults.

BACKGROUND Higher levels of insomnia predict greater depression severity among older adults; however, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear. This study tested a path model that explored whether dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and hopelessness mediated the relationship from insomnia to depression. It was hypothesized that insomnia would predict depression, both directly and indirectly, via dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and hopelessness. METHODS A community sample of 218 independent-living Australian older adults aged from 65 to 96 years completed a self-report questionnaire package. From the initial 218 participants, 171 completed a measure of depression three months later. RESULTS Path analysis demonstrated that maladaptive sleep beliefs and hopelessness partly explained how insomnia influenced depression, irrespective of the presence of obstructive sleep apnea and/or restless legs syndrome. CONCLUSIONS An older adults beliefs about sleep and sense of hopelessness were important psychological factors that helped explain how insomnia related to depression.