By Sarah Davis Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is prevalent health problem that has a big impact on many people’s lives, and it needs to be better understood in to improve prevention and intervention. NSSI is defined as the deliberate and direct self-inflicted damage to the surface of the body, without suicidal intent and for purposes not… Continue reading “Can self-injury be addictive? Exploring the potentially addictive characteristics of non-suicidal self-injury”
As we head towards the end of 2021, we have taken some time, as an editorial team, to reflect on the past 12 months. With another year of journal club and WSPD blogs under our belt, as well as a successful second e-conference and the introduction of netECR Collective Care, we are extremely grateful for the support of our ever-growing netECR community and the contributions that our members make to the network and to the field of suicide and self-harm research as a whole. As a community we now stand at 104 members strong, from 15 countries across the world.
Change is hard, no matter what the change is. My name is Rhiannon and I’m a second year PhD student within the Suicidal Behaviour Research Lab (SBRL) at the University of Glasgow. I also have an MA(Hons) in Music, and am an orchestral violinist.
By Rebecca Musgrove I’ve always loved numbers. I have vivid memories of the excitement of solving complicated A-level maths problems. I enjoyed the lack of ambiguity; either the answer was right or it was wrong. It was knowable. Twenty years later, via a career implementing community health projects, where there is rarely one straightforward solution,… Continue reading Getting reflexive: Reflections from a data loving researcher
By Rosie Pendrous. In psychological research, we rely on being able to measure a construct (such as depression) or a behaviour (such as frequency of past self-harm) in a valid and reliable way [1]. In doing so, we need to balance developing measures that accurately tap into the construct or behaviour we intend to measure… Continue reading Using single-item measures in suicide and self-harm research
By Erik Reinbergs. Measuring complex constructs related to suicide (i.e., suicidal ideation, planning, behaviors, intent, attempts, etc.) is extremely challenging. Many of these terms lack agreed upon definitions and are frequently used imprecisely, making accurate measurement difficult in even the best designed studies [1]. Without accurate measurement, however, the validity of psychological research is severely… Continue reading Highlighting measurement challenges in suicide research
Longer nights are drawing in, city centres are twinkling with holiday lights and faculty are donning winter jumpers: winter is firmly on its way and Christmas is just around the corner (…and we are writing from the northern hemisphere!). With the winter break fast approaching, and netECR members preparing for a well-deserved holiday, we thought… Continue reading A Year in Review: netECR 2019
By Hayley Gorton Back in 2015, I attended the International Association for Suicide Prevention congress the first time. I found myself in a room with about 600 delegates including psychiatrists, psychologists, statisticians, epidemiologists and many others; but realised that I was probably the only pharmacist there. This made me reflect on my own practice as… Continue reading Community pharmacy: An untapped resource in suicide prevention?
By Wouter van Ballegooijen Everyone has a smartphone. Well no, but 80% of people do (in the UK and the Netherlands) and it’s safe to say that your average patient in adult and adolescent mental health care will have one. I recently calculated that each of my two-year-old smartphone’s 8 processor cores have 15 times… Continue reading How smartphones can revolutionise suicide research
By Olivia Kirtley The lab and questionnaire-based nature of much self-harm and suicide research means that we often only have access to snapshots of participants’ experiences and behaviours. Furthermore, the chronic lack of prospective and longitudinal research in the field means we know very little about how behaviours and experiences change over time. Most often,… Continue reading Out of the lab and into everyday life: Using Experience Sampling Methods to better understand self-harm and suicide
By Laura Hemming It was an average Sunday afternoon when me and my partner, Sam, decided to head to our local swimming pool for a few laps. We’d been particularly stressed due to being midway through searching for and purchasing our first home, and decided we’d take some time out of relentlessly scrolling Rightmove to… Continue reading When your research topic becomes too close to home
By Rosie Pendrous Recruiting people into psychological studies can be challenging, especially in an area as sensitive as suicide/self-harm. Researchers are increasingly turning to the internet to recruit people based on the popularity and accessibility of social media. Social media is now widely accessed by the general population, with approximately 89% of UK adults accessing the… Continue reading Experiences of online recruitment for suicide research: Some best practice recommendations
By Austin J. Gallyer The Problem Suicide is an international public health crisis. In the United States (U.S.), the suicide rate increased by 33% from 1999 to 2017 [1], and in Scotland, the suicide rate increased by about 15% from 2017 to 2018 [2]. Because of this large public health burden, scientists have conducted research… Continue reading The need for a “Psychological Science Accelerator” in suicide research
By Mirabel Pelton My research asks why autistic people* [A] are more likely to engage in suicidal thoughts and behaviours than people who aren’t autistic. I want to produce evidence that will really reduce suicide rates. As I near the end of my second year as a PhD student, I’ve noticed that, when I introduce… Continue reading 3 things we should know about suicide in autistic adults
Siobhan O’Neill is a Professor of Mental Health Sciences at Ulster University. Her current research programmes focus on trauma and suicidal behaviour in Northern Ireland, novel interventions for mental health and suicidal behaviour. Siobhan has expertise in qualitative and quantitative (epidemiology and survey) research methods. What are your main research interests? I am really interested… Continue reading Interview: Career advice from Siobhan O’Neill
By Hilary Causer I arrived in Glasgow with rain lashing against the windows of the train, a familiar knot of worry in my chest and google maps open on my phone. This was my first visit to the city and my first EMCRF. It offered the opportunity to meet a whole host of people who… Continue reading Reflections on the 4th Early and Mid-Career Researchers’ Forum, Glasgow, 2019
By James Jopling, Executive Director for Samaritans Scotland. I must admit, I arrived at the 4th Suicide and Self-Harm Early and Mid-Career Researchers Forum in Glasgow with some trepidation. Although I have worked for Samaritans for nearly four years, this was my first meaningful foray into the world of suicide and self-harm research. Many of… Continue reading Conference Review: 4th Suicide and Self-harm Early and Mid-Career Researchers’ Forum
By Donna Littlewood Today I am giving a talk on Patient and Public involvement at the Suicide and Self-Harm Early and Mid-Career Researchers’ Forum (#EMCRF19) in Glasgow. This blog is the virtual version of that talk - but with links to relevant resources and a few added extras that I could not include in the… Continue reading Lessons learnt in the quest for meaningful and effective patient and public involvement
By Hazel Marzetti Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). IDAHOBIT happens every year on the 17th of May and provides an opportunity for people (LGBTI people and our allies) who feel able, to stand visibly against discrimination and harassment faced by LGBTI people. Does that really happen anymore? One… Continue reading International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT)
Agenda for Change Band 4 Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust Research and Development Directorate, is looking to appoint a 1.0 WTE (5 days per week) Research Assistant to work on an MRC/NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation funded project (the CARMS trial: Cognitive AppRoaches to coMbatting Suicidality). This study will investigate psychological mechanisms underlying… Continue reading Cognitive Approaches to Combatting Suicidality: Research Assistant Psychologist
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