Research on the complex relationships of variables contributing to farmer suicide is limited. The purpose of the study was to examine factors associated with suicide risk through the use of standardized instruments measuring psychological (depression, anxiety), social (social support), and contextual factors. A questionnaire was completed by 600 farmers in the Midwestern United States. A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze associations with suicide risk (SBQ-R), including depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), Brief COPE subscales (BC), social support (MSPSS), and select demographic and farming characteristics. The only variable that emerged as having a significant relationship with the natural log-transformed suicide risk score was coping through self-blame. While suicidality is often considered the outcome of mental illness, our findings do not suggest that suicide risk among farmers is related to mental illness, and a further examination of self-blame as a coping strategy is warranted.

Counselor educators maintain a responsibility for providing site supervisors with professional development opportunities (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. ). The goal of this study was to evaluate a model for providing preparation to site supervisors. Significant differences were observed from pretest to posttest on the Supervisory Self‐Efficacy Scale (Johnson & Stewart, ).

Little research to date has examined secondary traumatic stress symptoms in spouses of military veterans. This study investigated the presence and severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms in a sample of 227 Army National Guard veterans and secondary traumatic stress symptoms among their spouses. The veterans completed the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist Military Version (PCL-M) (Weathers et al., 1993) to determine the probable prevalence rate of posttraumatic stress symptoms. A modified version of the PCL-M was used to assess secondary traumatic stress symptoms in the spouses. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that the modified version of the PCL-M used to assess secondary traumatic stress symptoms in spouses fits using the same four-factor PTSD structure as the PCL-M for veterans. This study provides initial evidence on the underlying symptom structure of secondary traumatic stress symptoms among spouses of traumatic event victims.

The impact of stress on the mental health of farmers is a growing concern. With the increased prevalence of depression in farmers, it is important to understand the role of social support as a protective factor in the development of depressive symptoms in farmers. One hundred seventy-two farmers completed the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Mean MDI and MSPSS scores were compared between men and women. Multivariate linear regression adjusting for military service, age, and gender were used with MSPSS as the outcome variable to determine the effect of social support on MSPSS scores. Moderating effects of gender and military service on the social support subscales were tested using Gender ϫ Subscale and Military Service ϫ Subscale interactions. On the MDI, 8.7% of the farmers reported mild, moderate, or severe depressive symptoms, and 13.3% reported feeling that life was not worth living at least some of the time. Higher scores on the MSPSS subscales and the total score were all associated with lower MDI scores. In the final model, the Friend subscale remained significant (␤ ϭ 0.22, p ϭ .02), and the Family subscale showed a trend toward significance (␤ ϭ 1.7, p ϭ .08). These results indicate the importance of social support from friends and family members in the prevention of depressive symptoms in farmers. Telemental health may be an alternative to face-to-face counseling to provide outreach mental health services to rural farmers.

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