Keith M Harris

There is considerable debate on whether suicide assessment carries an iatrogenic risk for participants/patients. A double-blind randomized controlled trial (registration: R000022314) tested the emotional impact of suicide assessment on participants (n = 259) randomly assigned to experimental (n = 122) or control conditions (n = 137). The experiment...

Online relationships are increasingly central to many people’s lives. As a result, there is a growing need to scientifically examine their psychosocial implications. This study developed and tested the Online Relationship Initiation Scale (ORIS) through classical and item response theory analyses to address this need. An anonymous online survey inc...

This study examined suicide assessment validity by comparing methods of measuring current risk associated with past suicidal behaviors. Three independent samples (Ns = 359, 1007, and 713; aged 18–76 years) all included participants covering a broad spectrum of suicidality. Information theory, item response theory, general linear modeling, and linea...

Background: Numerous suicide risk factors have been proposed but not adequately validated for epidemiology, treatment and prevention efforts. Aims: Exposures to suicidal behaviors (ESB), from family and friend suicide attempts and completions, were tested for validity as a suicidal risk factor and also for measurement and construct adequacy. Me...

Clinicians are expected to provide accurate and useful mental health assessments, sometimes in emergency settings. The most urgent challenge may be in calculating suicide risk. Unfortunately, existing instruments often fail to meet requirements. To address this situation, we used a sustainable scale development approach to create a publicly availab...

Depression, poor sleep duration and low self-efficacy are common in mothers of children with sleep problems. However, research rarely extends beyond the postpartum period. This study investigated the multifaceted relationship between child sleep and maternal depression in early motherhood. A confidential survey assessed child sleep problems, matern...

Background: Accurate suicide risk assessment has proven elusive for clinical and research purposes. High false positive rates have pushed the discipline to reckon with inaccurate risk screening instruments. Mounting suicide rates and strained resources in the Global South require accurate, brief, free tools to ease and expedite screening. A good ca...

This poster illustrates the suicidal cognitive struggle, an internal debate on whether to live or die. Data came from several hundred volunteers covering the suicidal spectrum. Suicidal individuals showed orientations toward reasons for living and dying that differ from non-suicidal people, thus revealing more of the suicidal mind. These directions...

The Suicidality Scale (SS) is a self-report, or administered, measure of current suicidality. It has been tested in community and clinical settings (where it can be used as self-report or clinician-administered). The SS was developed to meet clinical and research needs for more accurate assessments of current suicidality and risk of future suicidal...

Clinicians are expected to provide accurate and useful mental health assessments, but existing instruments often fail to meet expectations. We used a multi-model approach to address one urgent psychiatric concern, developing a highly valid, ‘free culture’ license, instrument – the Suicidality Scale (SS). Study 1 survey participants (N=5,115, aged 1...

Since 2015, there have been numerous reports, mostly unsubstantiated, of teen suicides associated with an online contest – the Blue Whale Challenge (BWC) in Russia, Europe and India. Recently, reports emerged of possible BWC cases in China. 7 Cases were selected from Chinese media reports by online searching. Multiple sources of information (e.g.,...

Reasons for dying (RFD) are one of the most authentic factors illustrating the lived experience of suicidal individuals. However, the field has been criticized for inadequate evaluation of risk factors and suicidal symptoms, such as RFD, to develop more robust theoretical models and risk assessments. In this study, we aimed to critically examine RF...

Research into problematic smartphone use is growing as people are increasingly dependent on technological connections – a situation highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, current research has been limited by measurement validity issues and a lack of construct clarity. In response, this study developed and validated the Smartphone Connec...

Hypersexuality is associated with psychiatric disorders such as mania; however, it remains unclear whether bipolar I disorder with (BW) or without (BO) hypersexuality demonstrates different responses to external emotional stimuli and their transitions that were composed of pictures and sounds of same domain. In 21 BW patients, 20 BO patients, and 4...

Help-seeking prior to a suicide attempt is poorly understood. Participants were recruited from a previous research trial who reported a history of suicidal behaviours upon follow-up. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six adults to understand their lived experience of a suicide attempt and the issues affecting help-seeking prior to that att...

Purpose Attention on world migration has mostly focused on economic and inter-personal impacts, leaving a large gap in our understanding of how migration can affect migrants’ health. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the interdependent experiences of skilled migrants, as they undertake the latter part of their journey of skilled migrat...

This study explored medical doctors' clinical assessment of suicide risk and suicide attempters' self-reported suicide intent. Three years of archival assessment records related to suicide attempters who were admitted to the emergency department of a large teaching hospital in Singapore were subjected to analysis. Records related to 460 suicide att...

Individuals who undertake tertiary study outside their home countries (“international students”) may be at increased risk of problem gambling behaviour. To inform this issue, we examined gambling behaviour, problem gambling behaviour and reasons for gambling among international students, primarily from Asian countries, attending university in Tasma...

My Health Record (MHR) is a national personally controlled electronic health record, which is projected to be used by all Australian health professionals by 2022. It has also been proposed for use in mental health care, but there is limited information on how clinicians will successfully implement it. This study interviewed seven general practition...

International students comprise an increasingly larger proportion of higher education students globally. Empirical evidence about the health and well-being of these students is, however, limited. We sought to examine the health and well-being of international students, primarily from Asian countries, attending the University of Tasmania, Australia,...

This study explores gender differences in lethality of suicide attempts. Three years of medical records related to suicide attempters ( N = 666) were subjected to analysis. Of the sample, 69.2% were female, 30.8% male; 63.8% Chinese, 15.8% Indian, and 15.0 % Malay. Ages ranged from 10 to 85 years old ( M = 29.7, SD = 16.1). More males than females...

This study investigated whether several psychopathology variables, including suicidality, could predict the time people spend using the internet (hours online). Next, we examined a specific at-risk population (suicidal individuals) by their online behaviors, comparing suicidal individuals who went online for suicide-related purposes with suicidal i...

This study explores youth suicide attempts in Singapore using multiple databases of comprehensive archival records. Three years of medical records related to suicide attempters (N=666) who were admitted to the emergency department of a large teaching hospital in Singapore were subjected to retrospective analysis. Compared to other age groups, a pea...

This study explored ethnic differences in risk and protective factors for suicide attempts, for the major ethnic groups in Singapore, and ethnic differences in prediction of lethality. Three years of medical records related to suicide attempters (N = 666) who were admitted to the emergency department of a large teaching hospital in Singapore were s...

Ethnic differences in known risk and protective factors. (DOCX)

Logistic regression predicting likelihood of suicide attempts with high perceived lethality in the major ethnic groups. (DOCX)

Ethnic differences in suicide attempters and general population for mental illness and religious belief. (DOCX)

Ethnic difference in suicide attempts with high medical and perceived lethality. (DOCX)

Objectives There are multifaceted views on the use of ketamine, a potentially addictive substance, to treat mental health problems. The past 15 years have seen growing media coverage of ketamine for medical and other purposes. This study examined the print news media coverage of medical and other uses of ketamine in North America to determine orien...

The National Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services (2014) expressed the need for improved continuity of care. Electronic health records have the potential to impact continuity of care through improved information continuity. This study aimed to explore information continuity between Tasmanian general medical practitioners (GPs) and mental...

Risk-taking is an important but understudied suicidal factor, particularly concerning women. This study examined a broad range of risk behaviours and perceptions that might aid the early detection of suicidality by clinicians and gatekeepers. A purposive anonymous online survey, preferable for collecting data on stigmatised issues, produced a sampl...

Background Social media and online environments are becoming increasingly popular and integral to modern lives. The online presentation of suicidal behaviors is an example of the importance of communication technologies, and the need for professionals to respond to a changing world. These types of behaviors, however, have rarely been scientifically...

This study tested a low-cost method for estimating suicide rates in developing nations that lack adequate statistics. Data comprised reported suicides from Cambodia’s 2 largest newspapers. Capture-recapture modeling estimated a suicide rate of 3.8/100 000 (95% CI = 2.5-6.7) for 2012. That compares to World Health Organization estimates of 1.3 to 9....

This study examined and compared attitudes of both students and instructors, motivated by an interest in improving the development and delivery of online oral communication learning (OOCL). Few studies have compared student and instructor attitudes toward learning technologies, and no known studies have conducted item response theory (IRT) analyses...

Objective: Suicidal individuals are among the most reluctant help-seekers, which limits opportunities for treating and preventing unnecessary suffering and self-inflicted deaths. This study aimed to assist outreach, prevention, and treatment efforts by elucidating relationships between suicidality and both online and offline help seeking. Method:...

Depressive disorders are a common form of psychiatric illness and cause significant disability. Regulation authorities, the medical profession and the public require high safety standards for antidepressants to protect vulnerable psychiatric patients. Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic and a derivative of a hallucinogen (phencyclidine). Its abu...

This study aimed to examine the feasibility of recruiting participants to addiction research via Facebook. Participants were recruited via an advertisement on Facebook, a local research register and university psychology courses. Participants completed a self-report survey regarding substance use, history of mental health issues and current psychol...

There is considerable need for accurate suicide risk assessment for clinical, screening, and research purposes. This study applied the tripartite affect-behavior-cognition theory, the suicidal barometer model, classical test theory, and item response theory (IRT), to develop a brief self-report measure of suicide risk that is theoretically-grounded...

The Internet and related technologies have reconfigured every aspect of life, including mental health. Although the negative and positive effects of digital technology on mental health have been debated, all too often this has been done with much passion and few or no supporting data. This title addresses threats resulting from the growing reliance...

Purpose The research reported here evaluated the experiences of tertiary students learning oral presentation skills in a range of online and blended learning contexts across diverse disciplines. Design/methodology/approach The research was designed as a ‘federation’ of trials of diverse online oral communications assessment tasks. Tasks were set...

To assist suicide prevention we need a better understanding of how suicidal individuals act in their environment, and the online world offers an ideal opportunity to examine daily behaviors. This anonymous survey (N = 1,016) provides first-of-its-kind empirical evidence demonstrating suicide-risk people (n = 290) are unique in their online behavior...

The present findings offer new perspectives on differences between suicide-risk heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning: LGBQ). Results from an anonymous online survey, employing standardized scales, showed that LGBQ participants reported significantly greater suicide-risk than heterosexuals. Seventy-nine matche...

Researchers and theorists (e.g., Shneidman, Stengel, Kovacs, and Beck) hyothesized that suicidal people engage in an internal debate, or struggle, over whether to live or die, but few studies have tested its tenability. This study introduces direct assessment of a suicidal debate, revealing new aspects of suicidal ideation. Results, from an online...

Although many individuals go online for helpt with their problems, there is little information on what types of people prefer online assistance. To help people in need, it is important to understand them and their problems. In the present study, person veriables were assessed in relation to online help-seeking for suicidal ideation, as well as comp...

The objective of this study was to better help those in suicidal crisis by examining the types of suicide-risk individuals who make use of the Internet in relation to their suicidal problems. An anonymous online survey examined suicide-risk individuals who went online for suicide-related purposes (n = 165) and a reference group of suicide-risk indi...

This study introduces empirical data essential to our understanding of the relationship between suicidal individuals and the internet. Strong support was found for hypotheses that suicidal individuals purposely use the internet to resolve suicidal problems, whether for life or for death, and actively engage in an internal suicidal debate. A compute...