Wiser Reasoning and Less Disgust Have the Potential to Better Achieve Suicide Prevention

Abstract

Abstract. Background: High school and university teachers need to advise students against attempting suicide, the second leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds. Aims: To investigate the role of reasoning and emotion in advising against suicide. Method: We conducted a study with 130 students at a university that specializes in teachers' education. Participants sat in front of a camera, videotaping their advising against suicide. Three raters scored their transcribed advice on "wise reasoning" (i.e., expert forms of reasoning: considering a variety of conditions, awareness of the limitation of one's knowledge, taking others' perspectives). Four registered psychologists experienced in suicide prevention techniques rated the transcripts on the potential for suicide prevention. Finally, using the software Facereader 7.1, we analyzed participants' micro-facial expressions during advice-giving. Results: Wiser reasoning and less disgust predicted higher potential for suicide prevention. Moreover, higher potential for suicide prevention was associated with more surprise. Limitations: The actual efficacy of suicide prevention was not assessed. Conclusion: Wise reasoning and counter-stereotypic ideas that trigger surprise probably contribute to the potential for suicide prevention. This advising paradigm may help train teachers in advising students against suicide, measuring wise reasoning, and monitoring a harmful emotional reaction, that is, disgust.

Relationships between Nursing Students’ Skill Mastery, Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Facial Expressions: A Preliminary Observational Study

“…It is true that facial expressions can provide more detailed explanations to allow for a better understanding of emotions [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], such as anxiety or depression. In a recent study that used facial recognition technology, students who expressed more surprise and less disgust in a suicide advising session were more likely to be receptive to suicide prevention, which showed the relationship between facial expression and potential suicide prevention among students [ 20 ]. Therefore, students’ facial cues are likely to reflect their emotional state, and we propose that these characteristics can be applied to improve the quality of the education system.…”

Expressions of anger during advising on life dilemmas predict suicide risk among college students

“…The camera videotaped the participants' frontal-view facial expressions throughout their responses. Previous studies have confirmed the reliability and validity of expression analyses by FaceReader among Chinese participants (Chentsova-Dutton & Tsai, 2010;Hu et al, 2017Hu et al, , 2018Hu et al, , 2021. Following the procedure in previous studies, the "East Asian" face model was used as the training model for this study.…”

“…These questions were based on previous studies applying the wise advising paradigm which could evoke real-time authentic emotions behind facial expressions when advising on others' life dilemmas (Hu et al, 2017(Hu et al, , 2018(Hu et al, , 2021. For these questions, participants were told not to speak until they had reflected upon the questions thoroughly and felt ready to begin.…”

“…These scenarios were based on the previous studies in which participants' real emotions could be evoked during hypothetical advising to the protagonists (Hu et al, 2017(Hu et al, , 2018(Hu et al, , 2021.…”

“…Detection of suicide risk may be improved by assessing individuals' expressions of anger during daily advising. Previous studies have demonstrated that real-time authentic emotions behind facial expressions could be evoked when advising on others' life dilemmas and measured by expression analysis technology (Hu et al, 2017(Hu et al, , 2018(Hu et al, , 2021. The advising paradigm was modeled on the "empty chair" technique developed in Gestalt therapy that has been empirically demonstrated to be of therapeutic value despite its artificiality (Paivio & Greenberg, 1995;Wagner-Moore, 2004).…”