Teachable Moment Brief Intervention for Suicide Attempt Survivors in an Inpatient Setting

18-item measure that measures motivation to engage in treatment/work on problems. Total score will be summed from all items, with range from 18 (low motivation) to 90 (high motivation). Four subscales will also be reported as follows: Precontemplation ranges from 5 (low) to 25 (high) with higher scores indicating higher motivation. Contemplation ranges from 4 (low) to 20 (high) with higher scores indicating higher motivation. Action ranges from 5 (low) to 25 (high) with higher scores indicating higher motivation. Maintenance ranges from 4 (low) to 20 (high) with higher scores indicating higher motivation.

48-item measure that rates the importance of different reasons why people choose not to kill themselves. Total score will be reported, which ranges from 48 (low reasons for living) to 288 (High reasons for living).

6-item measure of ongoing self-directed thinking. Total score will be reported, which ranges from 6 (low hope) to 48 (high hope).

20-item self-report measure of Positive (PANAS-PA; 10 items) and Negative (PANAS-NA; 10 items) Affect. Each PANAS emotion word is rated on a 5-point scale, 1 (very slightly) to 5 (extremely) corresponding to the extent to which each emotion is experienced at the time of administration. Thus, higher scores indicate more and/or stronger positive (PANAS-PA) or negative (PANAS-NA) emotions.

Ischemia produces a pain akin to clinical musculoskeletal pain syndromes. 120 handgrip exercises will be conducted at a rate of 1/sec at 50% maximal effort using a dynamometer (handgrip force meter), and then the arm will be raised to promote exsanguination. A blood pressure cuff will then be inflated around the arm biceps to 220 mm/Hg to produce ischemia. The participants will be instructed to inform the experimenter when they first experience pain (pain threshold). The cuff will be deflated when the pain is no longer tolerable or after 3 minutes (pain tolerance). After 3 minutes as measured by a stopwatch (or when the participant discontinues the task), they will be asked to rate the average and peak pain intensity during the task on a scale from 0 (no pain) to 100 (intolerable pain).

Delivered using von Frey hairs (i.e., monofilament = brush with only one bristle) on the back of the nondominant hand. The monofilament, sized 6.45, will be applied to the skin at a 90 degree angle, which exerts 180 grams of force. The participant will be asked to rate their pain on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 100 (intolerable pain).

Delivered using von Frey hairs (i.e., monofilament = brush with only one bristle) on the back of the nondominant hand. The 6.45 monofilament will be applied to the skin at a 90 degree angle 10 times, once per second. The participant will be asked to rate their peak pain during these 10 stimuli on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 100 (intolerable pain). Temporal summation is the extent by which pain experience increases over the course of repeated stimulus presentation. Therefore, it will be measured as the difference between the peak pain over the course of these 10 stimuli and the rating of the single stimulus (mechanical pressure pain).

Sympathetic arousal will be measured from skin conductance level (SCL), measured from a BioDerm meter (UFI Model 2701) and corresponding electrodes filled with isotonic paste and placed on the volar surface of the medial digit on the index and middle fingers of the left hand. SCL will be assessed during the resting BP measurement prior to any testing, for one minute prior to pain testing during the BP measurement, during pain testing, and for one minute following pain testing during the second BP measurement. SCL will be recorded every 15 seconds manually by the experimenter. A pain-related change score will be created to find the difference between the average SCL during baseline and during pain testing. A recovery-related change score will be created to find the difference between average SCL during pain testing and the average post pain testing SCL.

Resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) will be measured using a medical blood pressure monitor prior to testing. BP will also be measured just prior to and immediately following the pain testing. BP will be measured on the right arm. A pain-related change score will be created to find the difference between the BP before and after pain testing.

Resting heart rate (HR; e.g., beats per minute [BPM]) will be measured using a medical blood pressure monitor prior to testing. HR will also be measured just prior to and immediately following the pain testing. HR will be measured on the right arm. A pain-related change score will be created to find the difference between the HR before and after pain testing.