Public Health Commons^™

Gender-Based Differences In Stress And Coping Among Farmers: A Cross-Sectional Study With Propensity Score Matching, Anne Montgomery, James B. Dunaway, Stephanie M. Basey, Chris T. Scoggins, Lily R. Baucom

Georgia Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Conference

This cross-sectional study compares the mental health experiences of male and female farmers, with a particular focus on stress levels, stressors, and coping mechanisms. The research aims to shed light on gender-based differences in stress experiences and coping strategies among agricultural workers. The study involved 1,394 farmers (67.7% male, 32.3% female) from Georgia, USA, who completed an online survey on aspects of mental well-being.

Findings indicate that female farmers were more likely to hold farm manager roles and less likely to be farm owners. Notably, a higher proportion of female farmers were first-generation farmers, indicating potential unique challenges for this …

The State Of Mental Health In The Mountain West, 2023, Ayda Atici, Freddy Nie, Jesse M. Fager-Larsen, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet examines the state of mental health for both youth and adults and availability of mental health care in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The data are retrieved from Mental Health America’s (MHA) 2023 report, The State of Mental Health in America.

Implementation Of A Standardized Suicide Screening Process In A University Student Health Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project, Addie Grace Strong, Kathryn Dambrino, R. David Phillippi, Linda Wofford

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death among college age students, prompting the need for evidence-based screening tools like the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) to enable early detection and timely intervention. Inconsistencies in suicide screening may pose a risk of missed intervention opportunities. This Doctor of Nursing Practice project specifically aimed to improve the quality and consistency of suicide screening in a university student health clinic by implementing the C-SSRS tool into the clinic workflow during mental health appointments. Methods: Employing a quality improvement framework, this scholarly project followed the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Model for Improvement …

County-Level Trends And Potential Disparities In The Suicide Rates In Virginia, 2020 – 2022, Sharon A. Olowoyo, Oluwatosin M. Oduneye, Glodi B. Bokanya, Ayooluwa G. Olowoyo, Coralie E. Mugenga, Yuhan Yan, Robyn L. Anderson

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Abstract

Objectives

This study aims to investigate the influence of social determinants of health (SDH) on suicide patterns in the state of Virginia.

Methods

A secondary statistical analysis was conducted using publicly accessible data from the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps database for Virginia. Data from 2020 to 2022 were analyzed, focusing on age-adjusted suicide rates and SDH factors, including % rural, mental health provider rate, median household income, high school completion, and unemployment rates. Multiple regression analysis and visualizations were employed for data interpretation.

Results

The analysis revealed that SDH factors significantly predicted suicide rates across the study period. …

The Impact Of Mental Healthcare Access On Community Safety, David Buchinsky, Caroline Watts

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Mental health illness is a pressing American public health concern. Approximately one in five Americans is diagnosed with a mental health condition.1 While cost, location, and physician shortage play a role in one’s access to mental healthcare, research is still determining the effects of mental healthcare access on community safety. Using County Health Rankings (CHR), we analyze the changes in mental health providers between 2016 and 2022 in Alabama and Massachusetts, two states with differing rankings in access to mental healthcare and firearm legislation. We then investigate how access to mental health providers affects community safety (firearm fatalities, suicide rates, …

Trends And Seasonality Of Emergency Department Visits And Hospitalizations For Suicidality Among Children And Adolescents In The Us From 2016 To 2021, Youngran Kim, Trudy Millard Krause, Scott D Lane

Journal Articles

IMPORTANCE: The detection of seasonal patterns in suicidality should be of interest to clinicians and US public health officials, as intervention efforts can benefit by targeting periods of heightened risk.

OBJECTIVES: to examine recent trends in suicidality rates, quantify the seasonality in suicidality, and demonstrate the disrupted seasonality patterns during the spring 2020 COVID-19-related school closures among US children and adolescents.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This population-based, descriptive cross-sectional study used administrative claims data from Optum's deidentifed Clinformatics Data Mart Database. Participants included children aged 10 to 12 years and adolescents aged 13 to 18 years who were commercially insured …

Psychometric Properties Of The Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (Sbq-R) In American Sign Language, Jared A. Embree, Amanda M. Hinson-Enslin, Kathy Taylor, Josephine Wilson

JADARA

Limited research has focused on the risk of suicide within the deaf community, and no published studies to date report SBQ-R scores in deaf populations. The purpose of this study was to adapt the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised into American Sign Language (SBQ-R-ASL). After the translation protocol was completed, the SBQ-R-ASL was field-tested with 340 deaf individuals in a national sample. Data analysis indicated satisfactory validity and internal consistency, and a Principal Components Analysis resulted in one factor. Field-test data revealed a mean SBQ-R-ASL score of 8.76, which is above published cutoff scores for suicide risk. These findings demonstrate a crucial …

Affective Depression Mediates Ptsd To Suicide In A Sample Of Treatment-Seeking First Responders, James Whitworth, Jeanine Galusha, Jose Carbajal, Warren Ponder, Donna Schuman

Faculty Publications

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the associations of comorbid

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), affective or somatic depression, and

suicide among first responders (FRs). Method: We used baseline data from

FRs (N = 232) who sought services at a nonprofit mental health agency specializing

in treating trauma exposed FRs. We conducted two PROCESS simple

mediation models with PTSD as the predictor, affective depression and somatic

depression as the mediators, and suicidality as the dependent variable.

Results: Affective depression significantly mediated the relationship between

PTSD and suicidality, whereas somatic depression did not. The direct effect …

The Effect Of Community Health Linkages On Suicide Rates In Veterans, Erica Anderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicide risk is a public health issue. It is a complex and poorly understood mental health and societal threat. This study examined veteran suicide rates and their relationship to family and social support, as measured by the social association rate, mental health funding per capita, and the lethality of the method rate. The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide and the social-ecological model are the theoretical frameworks that guided the study. Both theories emphasize the complexity surrounding suicide at the state level as it is related to the individual, social, environmental, and political landscape related to veteran suicide. The quantitative bivariate correlation …

Suicide Among South Asians In The United States: A Growing Public Health Problem, Aruna Jha, Manik Ahuja, Rajvi J. Wani

ETSU Faculty Works

This research study quantifies and describes suicide among South Asian Americans (SAAs), an emerging population that are underrepresented group in suicide research. The purpose of this study was to examine key characteristics of suicide deaths among SAAs. Data were employed from DuPage County, IL, a county with a large SAA population. Following federal recommendations for disaggregating Asian American data at a granular level, four SAA researchers used name recognition to identify all SAA cases classified as suicide in the DuPage County coroner’s database from 2001 to 2017 (N = 38). Coroner’s reports were analyzed for contextual details and correlating …

Patterns Of Suicide And Self-Harm In Pakistan: A Retrospective Descriptive Study Protocol, Nargis Asad, Shahina Pirani, Summaiya Tariq, Asra Qureshi, Mohammad Zaman, Mustafa Aslam, Farhat Mirza, Murad M. Khan

Department of Psychiatry

Introduction: Suicide is a major global public health problem. Low-income and middle-income countries contribute 78% of all suicidal deaths. Pakistan, a South Asian country, lacks official statistics on suicides at national level. Statistics on suicide are neither collected nationally nor published in the annual national morbidity and mortality surveys. Medicolegal reports on suicides and self-harm are extremely rich and important source of information but greatly underused in Pakistan. We aim to examine the patterns of suicides and self-harm retrospectively in patients who were registered with medicolegal centres (MLCs) in Karachi, during the period January 2017 to December 2021.
Methods and …

A Descriptive Analysis Of Patients With Attempted Suicide At A Rural Level I Trauma Center, Evelyn Coile, Tatiana Eversley-Kelso, Eric K. Shaw, Cynthia Ponir, Mickey M. Ott

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Objectives

For patients with self-harm, suicide attempt, or suicide completion, the trauma bay is often the single point of contact. Regional differences and patterns exist for suicide that should be studied to enhance preventive strategies. Our goal was to critically evaluate the suicidal population of Southeast Georgia over a 9-year period.

Methods

A retrospective review of our trauma database from January 2010 through December 2019 was conducted at a Level I Trauma Center. All ages were included. All patients arriving with attempted suicide or death due to a suicidal complication were included. Patients with deaths highly suspicious for suicide were …

Standardizing Perinatal Mental Health Interventions: A Guide For The U.S., Maile Lauren Robles

Master's Projects and Capstones

The term perinatal individual refers to women and other individuals who are pregnant or who have been pregnant within the last 12 months. Every year, in the United States there are 700 pregnancy-related deaths and 10% are due to mental health causes including death by suicide. Mental health conditions including but not limited to anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder affect one in five perinatal individuals throughout the United States. This increases perinatal morbidity, hospitalization costs, and economic burden nationwide.

After 43 days postpartum, mental health conditions are the second leading cause of death. The United States …

Understanding Deaths Of Despair In Us Counties Through Bourdieu's Theory Of Capital, Seulki Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to examine a recent rise in rates of deaths from suicide, alcohol, and drugs, labeled together as “deaths of despair” in the United States using Bourdieu’s theory of capital. Although the deaths of despair phenomenon is a product of a complex process related to various material and non-material factors, there is no theoretical framework that is able to account for different domains of predictors. Thus, this dissertation aims to fill this gap by drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of capital and systematically investigating the relationships of mortality rates attributed to suicide, alcohol, and opioid …

Predicting Suicide In Counties: Creating A Quantitative Measure Of Suicide Risk, Kate Mobley, Gita Taasoobshirazi

Faculty and Research Publications

Rising rates of suicide over the past two decades have increased the need for wide-ranging suicide prevention efforts. One approach is to target high-risk groups, which requires the identification of the characteristics of these population sub-groups. This suicidology study was conducted using large-scale, secondary data to answer the question: using the research on suicide, are there variables studied at the community level that are linked to suicide and are measurable using quantitative, demographic data that are already collected and updated? Data on deaths from suicide in U.S. counties for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 were analyzed using multiple …

Food Insecurity And Suicidal Behaviors Among Us High School Students*, Andrea D. Brown, Hilary Seligman, Sarah Silwa, Ellen Barnidge, Kathryn L. Krupsky, Zewiditu Demissie, Angela D. Liese

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Food insecurity (FI) rates in the United States are particularly high among households with children. This research set aims to analyze if high school students experiencing FI had higher risk for mental health and suicidal behaviors.

METHODS: Using combined data from 11 states that conducted the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a total of 26,962 and24,051 high school students were used to estimate race/ethnicity and sex-stratified prevalence ratios (PRs) from Poissonregression models. A single-question was used to measure the exposure of FI and outcomes of mental health and suicidalbehaviors.

RESULTS: Overall, 10.8% of students reported FI. Students experiencing FI …

Helping Our Heroes: An Evaluation Of Mental Health And Organizational Policies Surrounding Suicide Prevention And Postvention Strategies For Nebraska First Responders, Maria S. Mickles

Capstone Experience

Suicide is ranked as one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Over 40,000 individuals die by suicide each year (Stanley, Hom, & Joiner, 2016; Vigil et al, 2021), and, in 2020, it was ranked in the top 9 causes of death for all ages (10-64), and second for those 10-14 and 25-34 years of age (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). These statistics disproportionately reflect first responders (i.e., firefighters, dispatchers, law enforcement, EMS, paramedics, etc.), as they die by suicide more than the general public (National EMS Management Association, 2016). Within their line of work …

Not A Phase: Lgbtq+ Teens -- How We Can Save A Life, Jennifer Carner

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

This DNP project was conducted to address suicide and risk-taking behaviors of LGBTQ teens and how adults can improve the long-term outcomes of LGBTQ teens by being supportive adults. LGBTQ+ teens are at 4 times higher risk of suicide than their non-LGBTQ+ peers (The Trevor Project, 2021). The Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2008, found a teen having one caring adult in their lives decreases the risk of suicide. The project's goal was to educate adults to increase their comfort levels in terminology, their understanding of the developmental stages of teens, and how to provide protective factors to help reduce the …

The Syndemic Landscape: A New Paradigm For Montana Suicide Prevention Grounded In Agricultural Renewal, Emory Chandler Padgett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Montana has had one of the highest suicide rates in the nation for half a century, and since 2000, it has risen almost 50%. Despite suicide’s alarming persistence in the state, there has been minimal academic study of suicide or mental health specifically in Montana, so this thesis attempts to answer a few questions: Why does Montana have such a high suicide rate? Is there something culturally, historically, or socially unique about Montana that contributes to suicide? Are current prevention efforts helpful, harmful, or lacking? Could a consideration of culture and land benefit an understanding of suicide in Montana? What …

Education And Awareness Of Workplace Hazards: An Educational Intervention For First Responder Trainees, Emily Portune

All Master's Theses

First responder paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and firefighters provide emergency services to communities everywhere, often in life-threatening circumstances. At the same time, these first responders face high-stress life and death situations and may also endure unique workplace hazards like racism, sexual harassment and discrimination, verbal and physical patient assault, and extreme sleep deprivation. These hazards make prehospital providers vulnerable to mental illness, a fact proven by preexisting research that found more than 85% of first responders reported negative mental health symptoms and outcomes directly related to their career. Not only are prehospital providers at high risk of mental illness; …

Protective Factors Against Self-Harm And Suicidality Among Australian Indigenous Adolescents: A Strengths-Based Analysis Of The Longitudinal Study Of Indigenous Children, Irteja Islam, Lisa Sharwood, Verity Chadwick, Tuguy Esgin, Alexandra Martiniuk

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Understanding and encouraging social and emotional well-being (SEWB) among Indigenous adolescents is vital in countering the impacts of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. As self-harm and suicidality are considered markers of poor SEWB among Indigenous communities, we aimed to identify the individual-level and community-level factors protecting Indigenous adolescents from self-harm and suicidality. Methods: Data came from Footprints in Time—The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (waves 10 and 11), conducted among Indigenous families across Australia. A strengths-based analysis fitted multilevel logistic regression to explore associations with factors proposed as protective against self-reported self-harm and suicidality among Indigenous adolescents. Results: Our study …

Epidemiological Statistics Of Adolescent Suicide During Confinement Due To The Covid-19 Pandemic In Ecuador, Andres J. Guarnizo Chávez, Nathaly A. Romero Heredia

Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana

Objective: To present the characteristics of adolescent suicide, during the period of connement due to pandemic in 2020 in Ecuador, in order to satisfy the mental health needs of this age group with their knowledge. Method:Observational, descriptive, cut-off study It was carried out. Cross-sectional retrospective, with information from the database of violent deaths of the Ministry of Government, from March 17 to September 13, which lasted the state of emergency. The analysis was carried out by province, sex, age, suicide method and frequency in days after the occurrence of the event. The suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 inhabitants) was estimated …

Characterization Of Time-Variant And Time-Invariant Assessment Of Suicidality On Reddit Using C-Ssrs, Manas Gaur, Vamsi Aribandi, Amanuel Alambo, Ugur Kursuncu, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Jonathan Beich, Jyotishman Pathak, Amit Sheth

Publications

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S (1999-2019). However, predicting when someone will attempt suicide has been nearly impossible. In the modern world, many individuals suffering from mental illness seek emotional support and advice on well-known and easily-accessible social media platforms such as Reddit. While prior artificial intelligence research has demonstrated the ability to extract valuable information from social media on suicidal thoughts and behaviors, these efforts have not considered both severity and temporality of risk. The insights made possible by access to such data have enormous clinical potential - most dramatically envisioned as a trigger …

An Analysis Of Suicide Risk Factors Among Farmers In The Midwestern United States, Andrea Bjornestad, Courtney Cuthbertson, Jessie Hendricks

Counseling and Human Development Faculty Publications

Research on the complex relationships of variables contributing to farmer suicide is limited. The purpose of the study was to examine factors associated with suicide risk through the use of standardized instruments measuring psychological (depression, anxiety), social (social support), and contextual factors. A questionnaire was completed by 600 farmers in the Midwestern United States. A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze associations with suicide risk (SBQ-R), including depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), Brief COPE subscales (BC), social support (MSPSS), and select demographic and farming characteristics. The only variable that emerged as having a significant relationship with the natural log-transformed …

Unmet Needs Are Associated With Increased Stress And Poor Physical And Mental Health In Early Adulthood, Colleen Heflin, Katie Green, Ying Huang, Asiya Validova

Population Health Research Brief Series

Material hardship, such as not being able to pay bills, negatively affects both physical and mental health. This research brief examines how different types of material hardship (difficulty paying for food, bills, and health care) are associated with self-rated health, depression, sleep problems, and suicidal thoughts among U.S. young adults (ages 24-32).

An Emergency Department Medical Record Review For Adolescent Intentional Self-Harm Injuries, Anna Hansen, Dessi Slavova, Gena Cooper, Jaryd Zummer, Julia Costich

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts are increasing problems among American adolescents. This study developed a definition for identifying intentional self-harm (ISH) injuries in emergency department (ED) records coded with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes. The definition is based on the injury-reporting framework proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study sought to estimate the definition's positive predictive value (PPV), and the proportion of ISH injuries with intent to die (i.e., suicide attempt).

METHODS: The study definition, based on first-valid external cause-of-injury ICD-10-CM codes X71-X83, T14.91, T36-T65, or T71, captured 207 discharge …

Suicide And Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among Vermont High School Students: An Analysis Of Associated Health-Behavior Variables, Douglas Michael Lebo, Catherine Markesich, Ida Sargent, Mika Smith, Mariana Wingood, Heidi Hales

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among Vermont high schoolers and examine their relationship with health-behavior and demographic variables.

Methods: We used responses to the 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey from Vermont high schoolers (n = 18 613) to perform bivariate logistic regression analyses of variables thought to predict SI and NSSI.

Results: In 2019, 14.8% of Vermont high schoolers reported SI in the past year, and 18.9% reported NSSI. Lower grade level, LGBT identity, self-perception as over- or underweight, being bullied, alcohol use, smoking, and …

Associations Between Demographic Factors And Suicide Deaths In Vermont: 2015-2019, Isabelle Tomanelli, Lucy Lincoln, Stephanie Stead, Mary Ryan-Eldred, Nick Martin, Sarah Vose

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives. To quantify the complex relationships shared between numerous risk factors associated with suicide among Vermont decedents.

Methods. Vermont Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) data from 2015-2019 were examined through binary logistic regression analyses to examine demographic variables’ ability to predict death by suicide.

Results. In the analysis of 26,738 deaths, significant predictors of suicide among the 535 suicide decedents included rurality (odds ratio [OR] = 1.043; 95% CI = 1.016, 1.071; P = 0.002), divorce (OR = 1.785; 95% CI = 1,396, 2.281; P < 0.001), and higher educational attainment including associate degree (OR = 1.472; 95% CI = 1.033, 2.098; P = 0.032), bachelor’s degree (OR = 1.686; 95% CI = 1.266, 2.247; P < 0.001), master’s degree (OR = 1.812; 95% CI = 1.162, 2.826; P …