A prospective study of 1,958 outpatients found that hopelessness, as measured by the Beck Hopelessness Scale, was significantly related to eventual suicide. A scale cutoff score of 9 or above identified 16 (94.2%) of the 17 patients who eventually committed suicide, thus replicating a previous study with hospitalized patients. The high-risk group identified by this cutoff score was 11 times more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the outpatients. The Beck Hopelessness Scale thus may be used as a sensitive indicator of suicide potential.

A prospective study of 1,958 outpatients found that hopelessness, as measured by the Beck Hopelessness Scale, was significantly related to eventual suicide. A scale cutoff score of 9 or above identified 16 (94.2%) of the 17 patients who eventually committed suicide, thus replicating a previous study with hospitalized patients. The high-risk group identified by this cutoff score was 11 times more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the outpatients. The Beck Hopelessness Scale thus may be used as a sensitive indicator of suicide potential.

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to 168 outpatients diagnosed with recurrent‐episode, major‐depression disorders and 99 outpatients diagnosed with dysthymic disorders. The mean ratings of 18 BDI items, except for Sense of Failure, Punishment, and Crying, were comparable in both groups; the mean total‐BDI score and mean number of BDI items rated were higher for the major depressive disorders than for the dysthymic disorders. A backward stepwise‐discriminant analysis revealed that Suicidal Ideas and Loss of Appetite were the two symptoms that most meaningfully distinguished between the two groups. The major depressive patients described more suicidal ideation and loss of appetite than did the dysthymic patients. The results supported the contention that self‐report instruments may be useful in differentiating recurrent‐episode major depression from dysthymic disorders.

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Focused cognitive therapy offers a promising nonpharmacological alternative for the treatment of panic disorder.