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Background: The incidence of suicide attempts peaks during adolescence, with adolescent girls having a higher rate of attempts than boys. Depression is one of the main risk factors of suicidal behaviour and yet not all adolescents with suicidal ideation or attempting suicide have a diagnosable depressive disorder. The present study examined the unique contributions to suicidal ideation and attempting suicide of cognitive processes known to be associated with depression and anxiety, but which are also transdiagnostic: anomalous perception of reality, intolerance of uncertainty, and rumination. Method: 605 adolescents (M= 13.22, SD= 1.03, 47% girls) were evaluated in a cross-sectional study. Results: Multiple linear regression showed that the anomalous perception of reality and intolerance of uncertainty were uniquely associated with the severity of suicidal ideation, even when accounting for symptoms of depression and anxiety, but only amongst girls. In a logistic regression, self-reported depression symptoms, and not underlying cognitive processes, predicted the likelihood of a person having attempted suicide versus not having done so. Conclusions: In adolescent girls, less frequently evaluated transdiagnostic variables may have an important impact on suicidal ideation. However, depression symptoms, and not these transdiagnostic variables, seem to be the greatest contributor to attempting suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive substance among adolescents worldwide, and the age at which consumption begins to decrease. Cannabis use in adolescents is associated with a wide range of adverse consequences in adulthood including increased vulnerability to psychosis and other mental disorders, as well as suicidal ideation and attempt. The aim of this study is to extend understanding of the link between cannabis use and mental illness by examining whether cannabis use at early ages predicts transdiagnostic variables that are precursors to severe clinical diagnoses. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample was made up of 605 adolescents from 7th to 9th grades, with a mean age of 13.2 years (SD = 1.0, 47% girls). The variables evaluated were: anomalous perception of reality, intolerance of uncertainty, rumination, suicide attempt, hopelessness, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The administration of the questionnaires was carried out in groups of 20 participants under the supervision of a researcher in a unique session of 1 hour. Results: Adolescent cannabis users scored higher on all variables assessed: anomalous perception of reality (Cohen's d =.60), rumination (d =.48), intolerance of uncertainty (d =.11), suicidal attempt (affirmative answer: 25.9% of users vs 7.7% of non-users), hopelessness (d =.85), symptoms of depression (d =.80), and anxiety (d =.39). A binary logistic regression showed that the only variable uniquely related to cannabis use was hopelessness (Wald = 4.560, OR: 1.159, p =.033). Conclusions: Among some mental health risk factors, hopelessness appears uniquely related to cannabis use. Adolescents may use cannabis as a coping strategy for negative thoughts and emotions, or it may be a consequence of cannabis use. Future prevention programs should focus on preventing/treating modifiable factors such as hopelessness, and delaying cannabis use in specific subgroups of adolescents who experience pathologies such as depression or suicide attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and the tendency to repetitively think in a negative way about oneself are established contributors to depression; however, no study has yet examined the unique and interacting effects of these variables to depression symptoms and diagnoses amongst people with major depressive disorder (MDD). People with MDD (n = 48) and diagnoses-free, community controls (n = 66) completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety and IU, as well as constructive (focusing on how events occurred) and unconstructive (focusing on how events felt) rumination. In a linear regression, greater IU and diminished constructive rumination, and the interaction between IU and unconstructive rumination, each explained variance in depression symptoms, even when anxiety symptoms were accounted for. In a logistic regression, these variables did not contribute towards MDD diagnoses once anxiety symptoms were accounted for. Rumination about one's mood is associated with enhanced distress during uncertainty, with detrimental effects for one's depression symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]