Aditi Mishra

JL19PG008
Research Paper 1

TOPIC

“Problem addressed by author - The study was focused to discover to which intensity,
gender influences suicide risk amongst patients with mood disorders, or moderates the
effects of other demographic and clinical suicide risk factors.”

“Defined Key concepts - Depression; Anxiety; Sex differences; Childhood adversity;

Social determinants.”

“The theories, models and methods - The sample included 268 women and 154 men
who were part of a geographically diverse, multi-centre registry of the National Network
of Depression Centres. Measures of depression, anxiety, childhood adversity, psychiatric
diagnosis, living arrangement and employment status were analysed, along with gender,
to determine their association with suicidal risk.”

“Limitations of the research - Because the registry used as few assessments as possible to
enhance clinical utility and integration with work flow, only one measure of suicide risk
was included. Similarly, no data was available about patients’ current stressors, losses or
adversities or about their ongoing treatment. These variables could have accounted for
some of the variance in suicide risk. In addition, all data on affective symptoms and
adverse childhood experiences is self-reported. Lastly, the cross-sectional nature of the
data precluded examination of any change in suicide risk over the course of treatment.”

“Results and conclusions - Results indicate that, among this sample of individuals
currently in treatment for a mood disorder, men were at somewhat greater risk for suicide
than women.”

“Contribution to my understanding of the topic – Findings of this research indicate the

importance of regularly assessing the severity of depression among patients with mood
disorders and giving special attention to the assessment of anxiety in men. Symptom
severity clearly heightens suicide risk.”
 Research Paper 2

TOPIC

“Problem addressed by author - Instead of exclusively focusing on current depressive

symptoms, clinicians should assess for more stable depressive personality characteristics,
since they can be a risk factor for suicide.”

“Defined Key concepts - Suicide risk; Depressive traits; Depressive symptoms; Young
adults; Longitudinal design.”

“The theories, models and methods - A sample of 64 undergraduate students (85.9%

women), ranging in age from 18 to 33 years (M = 20.57, SD = 4.01), completed measures
of depressive symptoms and depressive traits at Time–1 and two months later, at Time–2,
measures of depressive symptoms and suicide risk.”

“The Depressive Traits Inventory (DTI) is an 80 item self–report questionnaire that

assesses a wide range of depressive traits and was constructed based on the psychiatric
and psychoanalytic literature regarding depressive personality. The 80 items are presented
to subjects as 5 point Likert scales ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree and
subjects are asked to describe their typical state of being.”

“ Limitations of the research - This study presents several limitations. It is important to

note that the relationship between depressive traits and history of suicide risk was
assessed in a small non–clinical sample, with few male participants and was limited to
self–report measures. The results should be compared with findings from high–risk
samples. It should also be stressed that the present results were obtained over a relatively
brief period of time -2 months.”

“Confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge - Despite its limitations, the current
study's findings have important clinical implications. Instead of exclusively focusing on
current depressive symptoms, clinicians should assess for more stable depressive
personality characteristics, since they can be a risk factor for suicide.”

“Results and conclusions – According to the present results, assessment of depression

should be broadened and clinicians should not merely assess the client’s symptomatic
presentation but also his or her underling personality traits.”

“Contribution to my understanding of the topic – Interventions for suicidal individuals

should also focus on personality, rather than simply reducing clinical symptoms of
depression”