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Trait Gratitude and Suicidal Ideation and Behavior

Hogrefe Publishing
Crisis: the Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention
Authors:
Karolina Krysinska at University of Melbourne
Karolina Krysinska
David Lester at Stockton University
David Lester
Jennifer Lyke at Stockton University
Jennifer Lyke
Jozef Corveleyn at KU Leuven
Jozef Corveleyn
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Background: Despite the progress of positive psychology, current knowledge regarding suicide protective factors is limited. Trait gratitude (a tendency to experience gratitude in daily life) may protect against suicidal ideation and behavior. Aims: The study tested a model of causal effects among gratitude, religiosity, reasons for living, coping, and social support as predictors of suicidal ideation, suicide threats, and suicide attempts after controlling for depression and stressful life events. Method: A sample of 165 college students were administered measures of gratitude, religiosity, reasons for living, social support, coping skills, stress, and depression. The study assessed lifetime and current suicidal ideation as well as lifetime suicide threat and attempt. Results: Both gratitude and religiosity, along with social support, coping skills, and reasons for living, correlated negatively with prior suicidal ideation, but not with prior attempted suicide. After controlling for risk factor (depression and stress), the impact of gratitude and religiosity was no longer statistically significant. Conclusion: Further research could help understand the role of positive emotions and human strengths, such as gratitude, in preventing and alleviating suicidal ideation and behavior.
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... Gratitude can be a sustainable predictor of post-traumatic growth development (Zhou & Wu, 2015). While confronting stressful events, there is a significant negative relationship between gratitude, religiosity, coping skills, and suicidal thoughts (Krysinska et al., 2015). McGuire et al. (2021) found that gratitude is common in US veterans and is associated with resilience-promoting traits such as optimism, curiosity, purpose in life, perceived social support, and religiosity/spirituality. ...
... According to the results, it is clear that the trait gratitude has a positive and direct effect on the post-traumatic growth of veterans with PTSD. This finding is parallel with the results of research by Krysinska et al. (2015), McGuire et al. (2021), and Umucu et al. (2022). Research by Umucu et al. (2022) also showed that gratitudebased interventions could effectively reduce the suicidal ideation of veterans with mental disorders. ...
Spirituality, Trait Gratitude, and Post-Traumatic Growth in Iranian Veterans with PTSD: The Mediating Role of Ego Resilience
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2023
  • J RELIG HEALTH
In Iran, spirituality is one of the most critical factors affecting veterans' health. The present study aimed to determine the mediating role of ego resilience in the relationship between spirituality and trait gratitude with post-traumatic growth in Iranian veterans with PTSD. In the present descriptive and correlational study, 300 veterans with PTSD were hospitalized and treated at Isar Psychiatric Hospital in Ardabil in 2021 and were selected as the sample. Data were collected using Tedeschi and Calhoun's Traumatic Developmental Questionnaire, Parsian and Dunning, Mc Cullough et al.'s Trait Gratitude Questionnaire, and Block et al.'s Ego Resilience Questionnaire. Based on the obtained results and various fit indices, the direct and indirect relationships between spirituality, trait gratitude, ego resilience, and post-traumatic growth in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder were confirmed (p < 0.01). Also, spirituality and trait gratitude through ego resilience indirectly affected the post-traumatic growth of veterans with PTSD (P < 0.05). Thus, targeting these three components through psychological therapies may effectively increase post-traumatic growth in veterans experiencing trauma.
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... Rasa syukur dapat meningkatkan optimisme (Wahid, Larasati, & Nasohri, 2018) sedangkan optimisme berhubungan negatif dengan kecemasan (Biber, Melton, & Czech, 2020 (Krysinska et al., 2015). ...
Peran Kebersyukuran terhadap Emosi Negatif pada Santriwati
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2023
Pesantren is a boarding school. Boarding school education has different challenges compared to non-boarding schools. Boarding schools are known to have stricter rules, and busier activities and students have to live far from their families. The various dynamics that occur in pesantren are prone to causing negative emotions, especially among female students or santriwati. Gratitude is one of the behaviors and attitudes of life taught in pesantren. This research aims to determine the relationship between gratitude and negative emotions (stress, anxiety, and depression) among santriwati. This study used a cross-sectional approach. Data collection was carried out using the Indonesian version of the gratitude scale (α: 0.838. n: 22) and DASS21 (α: 0.914. n: 21). The sampling technique used is simple random sampling. The total research subjects were n=143 female students. The results of data analysis using Spearman Rank show that gratitude has a significant negative relationship with stress (p=0.001; r=-0.286), anxiety (p=0.00; r=-0.332), and depression (p=0.00; r=-0.343). It can be concluded that gratitude is negatively correlated with negative emotions. Future researchers can conduct qualitative research to dig deeper into relationships with parents and anxiety because santriwati are still found to be at a severe level. Pesantren adalah salah satu bentuk pendidikan dengan konsep asrama atau boarding school. Pendidikan model asrama memiliki tantangan yang berbeda dibandingkan sekolah non-asrama. Sekolah asrama diketahui memiliki aturan yang lebih ketat, kegiatan yang lebih padat hingga siswa harus tinggal jauh dari keluarga. Berbagai dinamika yang terjadi di pesantren rentan menimbulkan emosi negatif terlebih pada santri perempuan atau santriwati. Kebersyukuran menjadi salah satu perilaku dan sikap hidup yang diajarkan di pesantren. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui hubungan antara kebersyukuran dengan emosi negatif (stres, kecemasan dan depresi) pada santriwati. Metode kuantitatif dengan desain cross-sectional adalah pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Pengambilan data dilakukan dengan skala kebersyukuran (α: 0,838. n: 22) dan DASS21 (α: 0,914. n: 21) versi bahasa Indonesia. Teknik sampling yang digunakan adalah simple random sampling. Total subjek penelitian n=143 santri perempuan. Hasil analisis data dengan Spearman Rank menujukkan bahwa kebersyukuran memiliki hubungan negatif yang signifikan dengan stres (p=0,001 ; r=-0.286), kecemasan (p=0,00 ; r=-0,332), dan Depresi (p=0,00 ; r=-0,343). Dapat disimpulkan kebersyukuran bekorelasi secara negatif dengan stres, kecemasan, dan depresi. Bagi peneliti selanjutnya dapat melakukan penelitian kualitatif untuk menggali lebih dalam berkaitan dengan relasi dengan orang tua dan kecemasan karena masih ditemukan santriwati yang berada pada level severe.
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... The findings of this eight studies stated that gratitude was negatively correlated with number of depressive symptoms, and connected with positive reframing and positive emotion. Another study evidenced that of the effects of gratitude on depression, coping and suicide which reflected gratitude as a highly protective factor while taking into consideration of suicidal tendency among stressed and depressed individuals (Krysinska, Lester, Lyke & Corveleyn, 2015). Enhancing gratitude skills can protect us from depressive condition. ...
Gratitude among Depressed and Non-Depressed Adolescents: A Comparative Study
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2021
The present study examined the gratitude among the depressed and non-depressed adolescents. This study also examined the impact of gender and depression on the gratitude of adolescents. Quantitative technique was used for investigation having two factors: the first factor having two levels of "Gender" (Boys and Girls) and the second factor having two levels of "Adolescents" (Depressed and Non-Depressed). This study adopted a 2×2 factorial design. After screening 320 participants, 120 adolescents: 60 depressed (30 male and 30 female) and 60 non-depressed (30 male and 30 female) were selected from different colleges of Cuttack district of Odisha, (18-20 years) having 'moderate level depression' (within the score range of 20-28 in the screening test of BDI-II) in case of 60 depressed adolescents. Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) (for screening) developed by Aron T. Beck and "Gratitude Questionnaire-Six-Item Form" (GQ-6) developed by McCullough et al. (2002) were used for the study. Two-Way ANOVA statistical technique was utilized and analysis was done through SPSS Version-20. Results revealed significant differences between depressed and non-depressed adolescents for gratitude, but no significant differences were found among male and female adolescents in their gratitude. The interaction effect was also not significant.
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... Of the included studies that reported a theoretical basis, all involved intrapersonal theories, as opposed to interpersonal theories. In mental health research, there is strong evidence that supports that individuals' mental health outcomes are highly associated with their close associations with their supportive environmental system and interpersonal social support (Beck-Cross & Cooper, 2015;Krysinska et al., 2015;Poteat et al., 2011;Suárez-Soto et al., 2019). Further evidence is provided by the data that supports that high school adolescents flourish within a family system. ...
Stress Management Interventions Among U.S. High School Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis
Article
  • Mar 2023
  • J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc
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... The idea of positive psychotherapy (PPT) as a treatment option for suicidality is based on these theories, and the research showing that positive psychological constructs (e.g. gratitude) are associated with reduced suicidal ideation or suicide attempts in patients with depression (Chang et al., 2021;Kaniuka et al., 2020;Krysinska et al., 2015). However, the only randomized trial in this area found that PPT may not be beneficial in reducing suicidality in patients with MDD (Celano et al., 2017), leaving the field with conclusive evidence in this area. ...
Temporal relationships between changes in depression and suicidal ideation: A mediation analysis in a randomized double‐blinded clinical trial
Article
Full-text available
Objectives There is a considerable debate regarding the possible dependence between depression and suicidal ideation treatments. The present study used a novel mediation approach in a randomized comparison of pharmacotherapy and combined therapy to explore whether depressive symptoms mediate the association between treatment and suicidal ideation and whether it depends on the treatment condition. Design This study is a randomized, controlled, parallel group (1:1), clinical trial using a novel mediation approach for longitudinal data. Latent difference score modelling was utilized to investigate whether changes in depressive symptoms drive subsequent changes in suicide ideation. Method Participants were 94 depressive suicidal outpatients who were assessed regarding depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation over the course of an experiment (0–2‐7 months). Direct and indirect associations between (change in) depressive symptoms and (change in) suicidal ideation were explored using Pearson's correlations and latent difference score model. Results The results showed that depression treatment affects not only suicidal ideation directly but also its influence on suicidal ideation occurs via improvement in depressive symptoms. It was found a more significant effect of combining pharmacotherapy and PPT (in comparison with the pharmacotherapy alone) on the early and late improvements of suicidal ideation (Δ 0–2 and Δ 2–7) via the early improvement of depressive symptoms (Δ 0–2). Conclusions The findings indicate that changes in depressive symptoms preceded changes in suicidal ideation. Our results highlighted that improving depressive symptoms could be a primary target in treating patients with depression experiencing suicidal thoughts.
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... This association was driven by dispositional gratitude (i.e., the tendency to notice and appreciate the positives in life), such that veterans with higher trait gratitude were approximately 26% less likely to attempt suicide during the follow-up period. These findings add to a growing body of literature from the veteran and general population, which has found trait gratitude to be inversely associated with suicidal ideation (Krysinska et al., 2015), suicide attempt (Kaniuka, Kelliher Rabon, et al., 2020), anddepression (McGuire et al., 2021). Several theories have proposed how gratitude may affect risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior, including its role in promoting cognitive flexibility, improving emotion regulation, modulating negative cognitions and expectancies, as well as impacting interpersonal functioning (e.g., increasing prosocial behavior; Fredrickson, 2004;. ...
Risk factors for suicide attempts among U.S. military veterans: A 7-year population-based, longitudinal cohort study
Article
  • Dec 2021
  • SUICIDE LIFE-THREAT
Background: Population-based data on risk factors for suicide attempts among veterans remains limited. Methods: A national probability sample of 2307 veterans was followed over the course of four timepoints spanning seven years to examine how a range of baseline risk factors predict incident suicide attempt. Suicide attempt data were aggregated into a single follow-up timepoint. Results: Sixty-two veterans (3.1%) reported attempting suicide during the 7-year period. The strongest risk factors for suicide attempts were higher baseline levels of loneliness, lower baseline levels of adaptive psychosocial traits (e.g., dispositional gratitude), baseline thoughts of self-harm, and greater post-baseline trauma exposures (12.3%–41.3% of explained variance). Veterans with multiple co-occurring risk factors were at greatest risk for attempts; of veterans with 0, 1, 2, 3, and all 4 of these factors, the predicted probability of suicide attempt was 2.0%, 5.3%, 13.5%, 30.4%, and 55.0%, respectively. Conclusions: Baseline loneliness, dispositional gratitude, thoughts of self-harm, and new-onset traumas emerged as the strongest risk factors for suicide attempts among veterans, underscoring the potential importance of targeting these factors in prevention efforts. Veterans with multiple co-occurring risk factors have substantially greater risk for suicide attempts, suggesting that examination of multiple coinciding vulnerability factors may help improve suicide risk prediction models.
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Why and how the interpersonal stressors influence nurses' intention to stay and job satisfaction: the JD-R model perspective
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The Feasibility and Utility of Gratitude Intervention for Suicidal Internet Users
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Full-text available
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【Abstract】Gratitude has received attention as a protective factor that contributes to suicide prevention,and several studies have shown that gratitude intervention in hospitalized patients has asuicide prevention effect. We conducted a gratitude intervention for suicidal internet users, andexamined the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention. This is a single-arm study of gratitudeintervention ("counting blessings") among Japanese internet users with high suicidal ideation(N = 225). The experiment consisted of a baseline period of approximately 4 weeks and an interventionperiod of approximately 4 weeks. The main factor measured was suicidal ideation. Thedropout rate was 16.5% during the baseline period and 24.5% during the intervention period.Commitment to gratitude intervention was significantly associated with reduced suicidal ideation,after controlling for mean suicidal ideation in the baseline period and other demographic variables.Gratitude intervention has the potential to develop into a suicide prevention tool that can beused by suicidal internet users who do not necessarily have access to psychiatric care.
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Article
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  • Jan 2002
In four studies, the authors examined the correlates of the disposition toward gratitude. Study 1 revealed that self-ratings and observer ratings of the grateful disposition are associated with positive affect and well-being prosocial behaviors and traits, and religiousness/spirituality. Study 2 replicated these findings in a large nonstudent sample. Study 3 yielded similar results to Studies 1 and 2 and provided evidence that gratitude is negatively associated with envy and materialistic attitudes. Study 4 yielded evidence that these associations persist after controlling for Extraversion/positive affectivity, Neuroticism/negative affectivity, and Agreeableness. The development of the Gratitude Questionnaire, a unidimensional measure with good psychometric properties, is also described.
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Personality and religion among undergraduate students in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Canada
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  • Jan 1995
Investigated the relation between personality and religion among undergraduates in the UK, US, Australia and Canada. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Francis Scale of Attitudes towards Christianity were completed by 1076 Ss (106 men and 272 women in the UK, 79 men and 133 women in the US, 66 men and 189 women in Australia, and 70 men and 161 women in Canada). Results show an inverse relationship between psychoticism and religiosity within each of the 4 samples. Neither neuroticism nor extraversion was consistently either positively or negatively related to religiosity. Results suggest that the location of religiosity within Eysenck's model of personality is consistent across several ages and cultures, when the same measure of religion is employed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The hypothesis of a continuum in suicidality: A discussion on its validity and practical implications
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The idea of a progression in suicide phe-nomena, from death wishes to suicide attempts and completed suicides, is quite old and widely present in literature. This model of interpreting suicidality has great relevance in preventative approaches, since it gives the opportunity of intercepting suicidal trajecto-ries at several different stages. However, this may not be the case for many situations, and the hypothesis of a continuum can be true only in a limited number of cases, probably embed-ded with a specific psychopathological sce-nario (e.g. depression) and with a frequency that should not permit generalisations. This paper reviews the available evidence about the existence and validity of this construct, and discusses its practical implications.
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The causes of suicidal behaviour are not fully understood; however, this behaviour clearly results from the complex interaction of many factors. Although many risk factors have been identified, they mostly do not account for why people try to end their lives. In this Review, we describe key recent developments in theoretical, clinical, and empirical psychological science about the emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and emphasise the central importance of psychological factors. Personality and individual differences, cognitive factors, social aspects, and negative life events are key contributors to suicidal behaviour. Most people struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviours do not receive treatment. Some evidence suggests that different forms of cognitive and behavioural therapies can reduce the risk of suicide reattempt, but hardly any evidence about factors that protect against suicide is available. The development of innovative psychological and psychosocial treatments needs urgent attention.
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Why Gratitude Enhances Well-Being
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  • Jan 2011
Gratitude is an acknowledgment that we have received something of value from others. It arises from a posture of openness to others, where we are able to gladly recognize their benevolence. Societies through the ages have long extolled the benefits of gratitude, and classical writings have deemed it the "greatest of the virtues." But only recently has psychological theory and research on gratitude begun to catch up with philosophical commendations. This chapter begins by reviewing research on gratitude and positive human functioning. It explores the mechanisms by which gratitude enhances well-being and considers at several explanations and evaluates the empirical evidence for each. The chapter then establishes an agenda for the future by considering some ways in which the scientific field of gratitude can be advanced.
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Gratitude, Like Other Positive Emotions, Broadens and Builds
Chapter
  • Feb 2004
This chapter examines the feeling of being grateful. It suggests feeling grateful is similar to other positive emotions that help build a person's enduring personal resources and broaden an individual's thinking. It describes various ways by which gratitude can transform individuals, organizations, and communities in positive and sustaining ways. It discusses the specific benefits of gratitude including personal and social development, community strength and individual health and well-being.
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An Inventory for Measuring Depression
Article
  • Jun 1961
  • ARCH GEN PSYCHIAT
The difficulties inherent in obtaining consistent and adequate diagnoses for the purposes of research and therapy have been pointed out by a number of authors. Pasamanick12 in a recent article viewed the low interclinician agreement on diagnosis as an indictment of the present state of psychiatry and called for "the development of objective, measurable and verifiable criteria of classification based not on personal or parochial considerations, but on behavioral and other objectively measurable manifestations."Attempts by other investigators to subject clinical observations and judgments to objective measurement have resulted in a wide variety of psychiatric rating scales.4,15 These have been well summarized in a review article by Lorr11 on "Rating Scales and Check Lists for the Evaluation of Psychopathology." In the area of psychological testing, a variety of paper-and-pencil tests have been devised for the purpose of measuring specific
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Gratitude From Early Adulthood to Old Age
Article
  • Sep 2014
  • J PERS
Objective Are there age differences in gratitude from early adulthood to old age? The current studies tested several ways by which an association between age and dispositional gratitude may present, by considering multiple measures on both fronts.Method We used data from three cross-sectional studies (total N = 1736, total age range: 19-94).ResultsThe results indicated that (a) age effects in gratitude are more likely to occur for subjective age in terms of future time perspective (i.e., people's perceptions of his or her remaining opportunities and time) than chronological age; (b) chronological age effects are more domain-specific than general in nature; and (c) they are more likely to occur for the instrumental domain as compared to the interpersonal domain. Finally, the results indicated that (d) perceived future time, particularly with respect to remaining opportunities, mediates the relation between chronological age and general gratitude.Conclusions Overall, the findings suggest that gratitude is subject to a variety of developmental influences across adulthood.
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