Natural History of Hopelessness, Suicidality, and Optimism in Psychiatric Inpatients Following Discharge

Contact information. On the day of enrollment, contact information (address, phone number) will be obtained from the subject. Subjects will also be asked to provide the contact information for a family member or friend who the study team may contact in case of emergency or if unable to get in touch with subject at follow up. Subjects unable to provide contact information for at least one family member will not be enrolled.

Baseline evaluation.

On the date of enrollment, study staff will obtain two types of information:

1. Baseline clinical characteristics. Study staff will obtain specific clinical variables from the patient to gather information about variables that could impact levels of hopelessness/optimism after discharge. These variables include: age, gender, # of prior admissions [zero, 1-5, more than 5], presence of substance use disorder (assessed via inpatient chart review), admission for suicide attempt or suicidal ideation only, and involvement in exercises that can increase feelings of well-being like gratitude, forgiveness, using one's personal strengths, and acts of kindness.
2. Baseline outcome measures: Study staff will also administer six instruments:

• Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS):14 This is a 21-item scale used to assess feelings of hopelessness.
• Concise Health Risk Tracking Scale (CHRT):15 This is a 12 item scale used to assess the presence and intensity of suicidal thoughts.
• Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R):16 This is a 10-item scale that measures optimism (and pessimism).
• Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS):17 This is a well-validated 20-item self-report measure of more general positive and negative affect.
• Sheehan Disability Scale:18 This is a 5 item scale used to assess the degree to which the subject's condition or disease (psychological, social, physical) has impacted his or her functioning in daily life.
• Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Self Report (QIDS-SR):19 This is a 16-item questionnaire that assesses the subject's depressive symptoms. It will serve as an additional reliable, valid way to gather information on the subject's mood.