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Abstract: Background: Mental health professionals encounter numerous difficulties when working with suicidal clients. To understand these difficulties in clinical practice better, a valid instrument measuring them is needed. Aims: This study aimed to translate the Difficulties in Suicidal Behaviors Intervention Questionnaire (DSBQ) to Slovene, validate it, and explore Slovenian professionals' experiences with it. Method: The participants were 106 professionals (19 men, 87 women), aged 26–66 years. Apart from the DSBQ, scales on attitudes toward suicide prevention and coping strategies in difficult clinical situations were used. The data were collected between October 2017 and January 2019. Results: Although slightly diverging from the originally reported component structure, the Slovene translation of the DSBQ measures difficulties in working with suicidal clients with acceptable/good reliability and sensitivity, and adequate construct validity. Slovenian professionals most commonly experience difficulties related to working with children, followed by technical, system and setting, and other types of difficulties. Limitations: The sample of participants was relatively heterogeneous. Conclusion: Further studies of the DSBQ structure and validity, as well as difficulties, especially those related to working with children/adolescents and facing the theme of death, are warranted. Considering the difficulties most frequently reported in this investigation, more efforts are also needed in Slovenia to address technical and logistic aspects.

Background: While loneliness is recognized as a risk to mental and physical health, there is a lack of data covering a broad age range. This study used a Slovenian adult sample to investigate loneliness. Aims: To examine levels of social, emotional and general loneliness within the general population. Method: A survey on a sample representative of the general population ( N = 1,189; aged between 18 and 95 years old ( M = 46.74, standard deviation ( SD) = 16.18); 49.7% were men) was conducted in Slovenia by means of an online questionnaire, covering data on demographic variables and levels of emotional, social and general loneliness. Results: In general, people experienced more social than emotional loneliness. Demographic variables that were significant for emotional, social and general loneliness were the history of past mental illness, civil status and employment status. Other demographic variables played different roles in different types of loneliness. Conclusions: Our study shows that differences in loneliness among demographic subgroups are an important factor in understanding and studying loneliness, especially with regard to the distinction between social and emotional loneliness. Given that loneliness represents today not only a social threat but also a significant health problem, it is important to understand which demographic subgroups are more at risk and how we can help them.