There is no scale to assess knowledge of suicide in Japan. To develop a Japanese version of the Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS) measuring knowledge of suicide, we translated 27 items of the original version which was developed in Australia and added 6 items unique to Japan to create a Japanese Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS-J) consisting of 33 correct and incorrect questions. The items were selected using Item Response Theory. The aim of this study was that reliability and validity were verified. We used a total of 747 responses by college students, graduate students, junior college students, and vocational school students for analysis. Two items with low relevance were excluded from the analysis based on the correct answer rate and the point biserial correlation coefficient. The remaining 31 items confirmed the one-dimensionality of the scale. The discriminating power of the items was sufficiently high, and the difficulty parameter was negative on average by a two-parameter logistic model. The test information function showed that the LOSS-J had high discriminating power when applied to participants with low characteristic values of suicide knowledge. The correlation with gatekeeper self-efficacy was weak, but there was a positive correlation with educational experiences on suicide prevention and comprehension of suicide prevention programs. Thus, LOSS-J was confirmed to have reliability and predictive validity.

In this study, we investigated the relationships between forms, age of onset, and repetition of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Results showed that 38 participants (18.36%) engaged in NSSI. The results of quantification theory type III showed that the forms of NSSI, such as carving words or pictures, sticking, and preventing wounds from healing, were associated with early age of onset. In addition, NSSI without tools, such as biting, scratching, punching self, and banging head, was repetitive. On the other hand, NSSI such as self-cutting was performed especially in women, and occurred mainly once. Therefore, it was shown that NSSI has different age of onset and repetition, which are associated with suicide risk, depending on its forms. In preventive education and early treatment of NSSI, it was suggested that non-typical forms of NSSI also should be considered.

The purpose of this study is to visualize the professional support skills of public health nurses in suicide attempt support program. Five public health nurses who had more than 5 years of experience as public health nurses and who had supported people in a support program for people who had been identified by the local government as having attempted suicide in cooperation with emergency medical institutions were interviewed and analyzed qualitatively. The subjects were five women (20 s–60 s), and the average number of years of experience as public health nurses was 26.2 years. Five categories were extracted [Understand the clients and consider the support needed 〈Clients understanding and assessment skills〉], [Understand and collaborate with the characteristics of related organizations and professions 〈Collaboration and coordination skills〉], [Using mental health knowledge and systems 〈mental health supporting skills〉], [Support with the best performance 〈Self-management skills〉], [Take advantage of work characteristics that public health nurses have 〈Primary prevention, community support, and outreach skills〉].