It has long been stated that six people are left behind following every suicide. Despite a lack of empirical evidence, this has been extensively cited for over 30 years. Using data from a random-digit dial survey, a more accurate number of people exposed to each suicide is calculated. A sample of 1,736 adults included 812 lifetime suicide-exposed respondents who reported age and number of exposures. Each suicide resulted in 135 people exposed (knew the person). Each suicide affects a large circle of people, who may be in need of clinician services or support following exposure.

Objectives: This article presents a systematic review of the literature on evaluative studies of truancy interventions. Method: Included studies evaluating truancy interventions appearing in peer-reviewed academic journals from 1990 to 2007. Findings: In total, 16 studies were assessed. Eight studies used group comparison designs and eight studies used one-group pretest/posttest designs. Studies varied on sample sizes, definitions of truant behavior, focus of interventions, and dependent measures.Conclusions: Six studies produced useful and promising interventions including contingency management, school reorganization, punitive measures, community partnerships, and family-oriented activities. The substantial methodological shortcomings, inconsistent definitions, and lack of replication demonstrate a need for more and better evaluation studies to provide a more definitive knowledge base to guide effective truancy interventions for practitioners.

Contemporary research suggests that transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) adults encounter formidable barriers to health care, including access to quality therapeutic interventions. This systematic review is one of the first to specifically explore obstacles to TGNC mental health care. A rigorous literature review identified eight relevant studies: six qualitative designs and two quantitative designs. Thematic synthesis revealed three major barriers to care and five corresponding subthemes: (1) personal concerns, involving fear of being pathologized or stereotyped and an objection to common therapeutic practices; (2) incompetent mental health professionals, including those who are unknowledgeable, unnuanced, and unsupportive; and (3) affordability factors. Results indicate an acute need for practitioner training to ensure the psychological well-being of TGNC clients.

Recent studies of people exposed to suicide point to a continuum of effects moderated by a perception of closeness to the deceased. We investigated the importance of perception of impact of the death on mental health outcomes of those exposed to suicide. Female sex, younger age, and multiple exposures to suicide were associated with greater risk for poorer outcomes. Suicide exposed with high impact was more likely to have depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief, and suicide ideation. Findings can help focus postvention resources for suicide-exposed individuals.

Using a feminist standpoint epistemological framework, this article reports the findings from 26 interviews with drug-offending incarcerated mothers in Kentucky regarding the effects of incarceration on their relationships with their children. The participants related personal histories characterized by poverty, victimization, chronic substance addiction, and repeated failed attempts at sobriety. Many felt betrayed by the courts and child protective services, and those who had lost custody of their children felt they had no remaining reason to rehabilitate themselves. The mothers expressed profound feelings of guilt and remorse for the impact that their behaviors had on their children and expressed hope that their children would experience better lives than they have.