Abstract
Severity of depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation were examined to determine whether they were significantly associated with the accuracy of suicidal adolescents' ratings of stressful life events. The sample included 130 inpatient adolescents who endorsed suicide-related behaviors. Stress interviews were administered, and the severity of stressful events was rated separately by adolescents and an independent team. A residualized cognitive bias score was created by regressing adolescents' severity ratings to the independent team's severity ratings of the same events. Depressive symptoms, but not hopelessness or suicidal ideation, were significantly associated with cognitive bias scores. A negative cognitive bias in adolescents' reports of life stress may be present at higher levels of depression relative to minimal levels of depression. Further research on the relations between stress and suicide-related behaviors is encouraged to include independent ratings of stress severity.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 503-510 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2013 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Psychiatry and Mental health