One hundred thirty-five psychiatric inpatients admitted for suicidal danger were surveyed regarding their views on the benefits/limitations of written no-suicide agreements. A survey instrument developed for this study revealed that these inpatients, for the most part, rated written no-suicide agreements in a positive manner and in ways consistent with clinical opinion expressed in a number of qualitative/expert-opinion articles. Positive views of no-suicide agreements were not materially influenced by social desirability or age, nor were they moderated by gender, presence/absence of Axis II disorders, or admission suicidal danger. However, patient suicide attempt history (no attempts, one attempt, or more than one attempt) exerted a moderating effect on patients' ratings of the helpfulness of these contracts. Multiple attempters viewed written no-suicide agreements as less helpful than those patients with a single or no prior attempts. The methodological problems and generalizability concerns associated with these results are discussed and future research needs are suggested.

We examined the redundancy and incremental validity of the newly introduced Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) Depressive Personality scale with a heterogeneous sample of 283 psychiatric inpatients. Linear and nominal bivariate correlations indicated sizable overlap between the MCMI-III Depressive, Avoidant, and Self-Defeating Personality scales. Also, the Depressive Personality scale showed moderate overlap with the MCMI-III Major Depression scale. Despite this redundancy, the Depressive Personality scale made significant independent contributions in predicting Axis-I measures of depression, i.e., the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) Depression and Interpersonal Sensitivity scales, as well as the MCMI-III Major Depression scale. The Depressive Personality scale appears to be dimensionally related to these measures of Axis-I depression.

The Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI) was administered to 1,123 subjects in the 13-16 year age range. Normative test data were calculated and presented for this group. On the basis of a questionnaire administered with the PSI, this group was divided into a group less likely to appear in court and a group more likely to appear in court. These groups were compared to a group tested while on juvenile probation. Significant differences were found on several of the PSI scales. It appears that the PSI can serve a useful purpose when administered to subjects 13-16, although additional research is warranted.

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