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We examined the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) compared to a social-emotional empathy-based intervention (EBI), and a passive control group in promoting compassion among Jewish-Israeli kindergartners. Three middle-class public kindergartens were randomly assigned to the MBI (n = 26;Mage = 5.03), EBI (n = 24;Mage = 5.02), or control groups (n = 24;Mage = 5.16; Ngirls = 40). The interventions lasted 12-weeks. Pre- and post-intervention, children's cognitive compassion was assessed utilizing computerized continuous performance tasks for attention/impulsivity, and structured observations of attention to teacher and on-task behaviors; emotional compassion was measured with structured observations of prosociality, negative affect, social-emotional difficulties, and aggression; intentional and actual compassion was measured using a compassionate responding paradigm. Research Findings: Results showed that MBI participants decreased impulsivity and improved sustained attention, increased attentiveness to the teacher, and reduced social difficulties and aggression – these effects did not appear for either other group. Additionally, the MBI and EBI participants increased prosociality and compassionate behaviors more than the control group, however the magnitude of change from the MBI was significantly larger. The MBI increased cognitive, emotional, intentional, and behavioral skills and understanding that are essential components necessary to engage in compassion. Practice or Policy: MBIs can be effectively led by teachers and integrated into school curriculum to facilitate just and caring educational communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study addresses the suicide risk predicting challenge by exploring the predictive ability of machine learning (ML) models integrated with theory‐driven psychological risk factors in real‐time crisis hotline chats. More importantly, we aimed to understand the specific theory‐driven factors contributing to the ML prediction of suicide risk. Method: The dataset consisted of 17,654 crisis hotline chat sessions classified dichotomously as suicidal or not. We created a suicide risk factors‐based lexicon (SRF), which encompasses language representations of key risk factors derived from the main suicide theories. The ML model (Suicide Risk‐Bert; SR‐BERT) was trained using natural language processing techniques incorporating the SRF lexicon. Results: The results showed that SR‐BERT outperformed the other models. Logistic regression analysis identified several theory‐driven risk factors significantly associated with suicide risk, the prominent ones were hopelessness, history of suicide, self‐harm, and thwarted belongingness. Limitations: The lexicon is limited in its ability to fully encompass all theoretical concepts related to suicide risk, nor to all the language expressions of each concept. The classification of chats was determined by trained but non‐professionals in metal health. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of how ML models combined with theory‐driven knowledge can improve suicide risk prediction. Our study underscores the importance of hopelessness and thwarted belongingness in suicide risk and thus their role in suicide prevention and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Mothers faced an increased risk of adverse mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to other populations. However, there is little data on the factors that placed mothers at increased risk of distress. Aims: The present study explored a range of individual, familial, and environmental factors associated with psychological distress in mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This repeated cross-sectional study was composed of a convenience sample of mothers who completed an online survey that included a demographic questionnaire, an emotion regulation questionnaire, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale. The survey was administered during the second and third lockdowns in Israel in 2020–2021. Results: The study included 575 mothers (M age = 39). The findings of a hierarchical regression indicated that individual-level factors, composed of age and emotion regulation tendencies predicted psychological distress. The family-level factors of household income and number of children in the family also predicted distress. In terms of environmental-level factors, COVID-19-related media consumption and school status (open or closed) were also significant predictors of psychological distress. Importantly, the results showed that the most important predictors of psychological distress in mothers during the COVID-19 outbreak were school closures, household income, and the use of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Conclusions: The findings highlight the intersection of individual, familial, and environmental factors in mothers' mental health during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Changes in suicide rates after a nationwide trauma may be different from changes in psychiatric symptoms or general distress after such events. However, very few studies have examined short-term suicide-related reactions after such an event., Objective: To evaluate the short-term outcome of the events in Israel on October 7, 2023, a large-scale terror attack and unfolding war, on changes in suicidality as reflected in percentages of suicide-related calls in relation to all calls to a national mental health first aid helpline, the Israeli Association for Emotional First Aid (ERAN)., Design, Setting and Participants: The data included all interactions via the various ERAN helpline services between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023., Exposures: The October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel., Mean Outcomes and Measures: Changes in the numbers of overall calls and suicide-related calls to the ERAN helpline using an interrupted time-series analysis., Results: A total of 602 323 calls were received by the ERAN helpline. The number of calls reflecting psychological distress in the 3 months before October 7, 2023, was 67 555 compared with 89 445 calls in the 3 months after. Analysis indicated that overall calls increased significantly on October 7 (β = 2089.16; 95% CI, 1918.97-2259.35). In addition, the daily trajectory of all calls changed significantly after October 7 (β = -22.77; 95% CI, -33.37 to -12.16), such that there was a decrease in the number of calls per day (β = -11.34; SE = 1.213; t = -9.35; P < .001). The number of suicide-related calls in the 3 months before October 7 was 1887, whereas 1663 suicide-related calls were registered in the 3 months after. Analysis showed that there were no changes in the daily number of suicide-related calls from before October 7 (β = -0.001; 95% CI, -0.005 to 0.03) or on October 7 (β = -0.22; 95% CI, -3.69 to 3.25). Therefore, the percentage of suicide-related calls decreased significantly on October 7 (β = -1.42; 95% CI, -1.92 to -0.92) and gradually increased in the following period (β = 0.016; 95% CI, 0.006-0.026)., Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this cohort study suggest that although short-term emotional distress increased after national trauma, the percentage of suicide-related calls decreased. These results support previous studies suggesting that suicidality is not one of the immediate reactions to such traumas.