【guideline-defense】sample Thesis Defense 7-31-09.pdf

Coping Strategies, Suicidal Ideation, and Protective Factors Against Suicide in Older Adults Thesis Defense Meghan Marty July 31, 2009 Agenda   Statement of the problem   Review of literature   Hypotheses   Methodology   Results   Discussion Older Adults and Suicide   In 2004, Americans aged 65 and older had a higher death rate by suicide than the general population   Suicide rate among men increased with age   Men aged 65 and older had a suicide rate seven times greater than women aged 65 and older   Older adults tend to utilize mental health services less than younger adults within the year before suicide (Luoma, Martin, Pearson, 2002) Suicide and Coping   Style of coping may serve as an internal source of emotional strength used to buffer the effects of perceived stress   A large body of literature has focused on variability in coping strategies as a possible explanation for why some individuals think about and commit suicide Coping Theory: Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub (1989)   Problem-focused o  Directed at managing or altering the problem   Emotion-focused o  Directed at regulating emotional response to the distress   Dysfunctional Summary of Coping Theory   Consensus regarding basic distinction between problem- and emotion-focused coping (Parker Endler, 1992)   The precise nature of emotion-focused coping is ambiguous   Any given coping strategy may be adaptive or maladaptive depending upon when and for how long it is used (Suls Fletcher, 1985) Coping and Suicide Risk   Problem-focused coping o  Suicidal ideators and attempters solve problems less effectively than non-suicidal