bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Führt Topiramat zu Gewichtsabnahme bei neuroleptikabedingtem Übergewicht?
Authors: Schüler-Springorum M. , Hebebrand J. , Wehmeier P.M. , Remschmidt H.
Published: April 2003

Zusammenfassung: Fragestellung: Topiramat, ein neueres Antiepileptikum, wird in letzter Zeit vermehrt auch als stimmungsstabilisierende Substanz in der Therapie bipolarer und schizoaffektiver Psychosen eingesetzt. Eine häufig beschriebene Nebenwirkung ist eine Minderung des Appetits mit konsekutiver Gewichtsabnahme. Dieser Befund führte uns zu der Überlegung, in wieweit man bei Patienten, die aufgrund einer der oben genannten Störungen Neuroleptika erhalten und auf diese mit einer erheblichen Gewichtszunahme reagiert hatten, durch Gabe von Topiramat zugleich eine stimmungs- sowie gewichtsstabilisierende Wirkung erreichen kann. Methode: Anhand zweier Fallbeobachtungen untersuchten wir den Gewichtsverlauf, das subjektive Wohlbefinden und die psychopathologischen Auswirkungen der alleinigen und kombinierten Gabe von Topiramat bei zwei Jugendlichen. Ergebnisse: Beide Patienten erreichten unter Topiramat durch eine Abnahme der Appetits eine Gewichtsstabilisierung bzw. beschreiben subjektiv eine Erleichterung bei der Einhaltung diätetischer Maßnahmen bei gleichzeitiger Stabilisierung des Affekts. Schlussfolgerung: Wir kommen so zu der Einschätzung, dass in ausgewählten Fällen jugendlicher Patienten mit affektiven Störungen, bei denen es durch vorherige Gabe von Neuroleptika zu einem Gewichtsanstieg gekommen war, der Einsatz von Topiramat sowohl zur Stimmungs- als auch zur Gewichtsstabilisierung indiziert sein kann.
Hat der sogenannte “Lügendetektor“ nach veränderter Rechtslage in Deutschland eine Zukunft?
Authors: Dahle Klaus-Peter
Published: April 2003

Zusammenfassung. Weitgehend unbemerkt von der breiteren Fachöffentlichkeit haben in den vergangenen Jahren psychophysiologische Methoden der Täterschaftsbeurteilung (sog. “Lügendetektortests“) den Weg in die deutschen Gerichtssäle gefunden. Ging es zunächst um Untersuchungen im Rahmen von umgangs- und sorgerechtlichen Fragestellungen, sahen sich bald auch die Strafgerichte unter zunehmendem Druck, Ergebnisse psychophysiologischer Untersuchungen als Beweismittel zuzulassen. Im Dezember 1998 hat der Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) - im Gegensatz zur früheren Rechtsprechung - diese Untersuchungsmethoden nicht mehr als verfassungswidrig oder als strafprozessual verboten klassifiziert, gleichzeitig jedoch den Untersuchungsbefunden jeglichen strafgerichtlich verwertbaren Beweiswert abgesprochen. Trotz des BGH-Urteils ist ein anhaltendes öffentliches Interesse an psychophysiologischen Methoden im Rechtswesen und eine anhaltende Anwendungspraxis zumindest im familiengerichtlichen Umfeld zu beobachten. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden daher die methodischen Grundlagen und Probleme der verschiedenen Untersuchungstechniken referiert und eine kritische Bewertung der derzeitigen Anwendungspraxis vorgenommen. Weiterhin werden Perspektiven einer - nunmehr rechtlich möglichen - Anwendung in anderen rechtspsychologisch relevanten Feldern ventiliert. Es zeigt sich, dass vor allem für eine bestimmte Methodenfamilie, der sogenannten Tatwissenstechnik, durchaus Potenziale für eine methodisch fundierte und inhaltlich sinnvolle Anwendung bestehen.
Wahrnehmung eigener Handlungen und ihrer Konsequenzen
Authors: Knoblich Günther
Published: April 2003

Zusammenfassung. Der Artikel gibt einen Überblick aktueller Forschung zur Wahrnehmung eigener Handlungen und ihrer Konsequenzen aus unterschiedlichen Teilgebieten der Psychologie und der Neurowissenschaften. Im ersten Teil werden Situationen betrachtet, in denen eine Person aktuell handelt. Für diese Situationen werden drei Fragen behandelt: Können eigene Bewegungen unabhängig von den intendierten Konsequenzen überwacht werden? Werden dieselben Ereignisse anders wahrgenommen, wenn sie auf eigene Handlungen zurückgehen? Wie werden Ereignisse in der Umwelt identifiziert, die aus eigenen Handlungen resultieren? Im zweiten Teil werden Situationen behandelt, in denen Personen frühere eigene Handlungen wahrnehmen. Dabei geht es um zwei weitere Fragen: Können frühere eigene Handlungen und ihre Konsequenzen identifiziert werden, auch wenn keine anatomischen Hinweise auf die Identität vorliegen? Können auf der Basis der Beobachtung eigener Handlungen genauere Vorhersagen über nachfolgende Ereignisse generiert werden? Die Forschung spricht insgesamt dafür, dass motorisches und Handlungswissen die Wahrnehmung beeinflussen und die Zuschreibung von beobachteten Ereignissen zu eigenen Handlungen erlauben.
Das kurzfristige Behalten von Sätzen
Authors: Rummer Ralf
Published: April 2003

Zusammenfassung. Das Verständnis des kurzfristigen Behaltens von syntaktisch strukturiertem verbalem Material ist von grundlegender Bedeutung für zentrale Erkenntnisziele der Kognitionspsychologie (z.B. Sprachverstehen); in der Forschung ist dieser Gegenstand jedoch nicht angemessen repräsentiert. Das Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist es, die kognitiven Prozesse zu präzisieren, auf die das Satzbehalten zurückgeht. Nach einem kurzen historischen Überblick über das Forschungsfeld wird gezeigt, dass Sätze vor allem auf der Basis einer Repräsentation ihres Inhalts und unter Nutzung der aktuellen Aktivationsverhältnisse im mentalen Lexikon regeneriert werden. Im Rahmen dieses Beitrags wird dieses Regenerierungsmodell weiter elaboriert. Insbesondere wird gezeigt, dass, abhängig von den jeweiligen Randbedingungen, auch akustisch-sensorische, phonologische und syntaktische Informationen am Regenerierungsprozess beteiligt sein können.
Domestic Integration and Suicide in the Provinces of Canada
Authors: Leenaars Antoon A. , Lester David
Published: April 2003

Canada's rate of suicide varies from province to province. The classical theory of suicide, which attempts to explain the social suicide rate, stems from Durkheim, who argued that low levels of social integration and regulation are associated with high rates of suicide. The present study explored whether social factors (divorce, marriage, and birth rates) do in fact predict suicide rates over time for each province (period studied: 1950-1990). The results showed a positive association between divorce rates and suicide rates, and a negative association between birth rates and suicide rates. Marriage rates showed no consistent association, an anomaly as compared to research from other nations.
Psychiatric-Psychotherapeutic Crisis Intervention for Inpatient Adolescents
Authors: Günter M , Karle M , Kleefeld H , Werning A , Klosinski G
Published: April 2003

We assessed retrospectively in two periods of evaluation all inpatient crisis interventions (n1 = 75, n2 = 65) conducted in a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents aged 13 to 19 years. In a first preliminary study we described patterns of family dynamics and developed an evaluation plan, which was used in the second study reported here. Familial conflict situations proved to be the essential factors. The adolescents' psychiatric diagnoses differed considerably from those of adult patients. Therapeutic management using a psychoanalytically oriented focal therapy and a more social-psychiatrically oriented crisis management is discussed. Data on adolescents' and families' collaboration as well as on the success of therapy are reported. It was possible to offer developmental prospects if the adolescents were able to consider their inner conflicts and if concurrently an agreement could be reached with the family. Collaboration with community health-care professionals, in particular with the appropriate social workers, was an important step in the majority of cases. Usually discharge to the home followed within a few days, in some cases to a supervised residence group. Twenty-three percent of patients required longer inpatient therapy.
A Thematic Analysis of Suicide Notes
Authors: O'Connor Rory C , Sheehy Noel P , O'Connor Daryl B
Published: April 2003

The analysis of suicide notes is an integral part of understanding suicidal behaviour. To this end, Leenaars (1996, 1992) has developed the Thematic Guide to Suicide Prediction (TGSP) for profiling the psychological correlates of suicide. The utility of this tool in suicide prevention, however, is not known. This study applied the TGSP to suicide notes (n = 45), interpreted in the light of coroner's inquest papers, drawn from a Northern Irish population. The results yielded support for the existence of psychological suicidal correlates. Moreover, qualitative differences between depressed and not depressed notewriters and those with and without a previous suicidal attempt were identified. For example, depressed suicides were more likely to communicate difficulties in developing attachments, or to exhibit cognitive constriction than nondepressed notewriters. Analysis of age differences was limited because of the paucity of suicide notes (in this sample, written by individuals aged 65 years or older). This research has further helped to identify psychological differences that should be beneficial in the prevention of suicide. Such differences should be integrated into existing risk assessment schedules. It is also argued that the analysis of suicide notes should form one strand in an integrated research framework.
The Cost of Hospital Care in the Year Before and After Parasuicide
Authors: O'Sullivan Mary , Lawlor Martin , Corcoran Paul , Kelleher Michael J
Published: April 2003

This study, based in Ireland in the Limerick centre of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study of Parasuicide, tests the hypothesis that the uptake of hospital services increases significantly following an act of parasuicide. To investigate this, the costs of hospital attendance in the year before and in the year after an act of parasuicide are measured and compared. The sample is comprised of the first 100 individuals who attended an acute general hospital following an act of parasuicide after July 1, 1995. Using a computerized patient record system, every hospital attendance is identified, for each individual, in the 12 months before and after the parasuicide act. This includes every visit to the Emergency Room as well as both general and psychiatric inpatient admissions and outpatient attendances. There was a 50% increase in the uptake of hospital services—32% of the sample attended hospital in the year before compared with 48% in the year after. The total yearly costs for the 100 patients almost doubled from IR£ 53,652 (Euro 68,138) to IR£ 104,454 (Euro 132,657). Generalizing to the 539 individuals who engaged in parasuicide in the Limerick catchment area, total costs increased from IR£ 289,184 (Euro 367,264) to IR£ 563,007 (Euro 715,019). This study is an initial step toward the more complex task of estimating to what extent the increased uptake of hospital services is due to the consequences of parasuicide and how much is due to other aspects of the patient's health.
The Pattern of Suicide in Pakistan
Authors: Khan Murad Moosa , Reza Hashim
Published: April 2003

There is paucity of information on suicide from Pakistan, an Islamic country in which data collection poses formidable challenges. A variety of social, legal, and religious factors make reporting and diagnosing suicide difficult. Paradoxically, incidents of suicide are regularly reported in newspapers in Pakistan. In the absence of other means these reports serve a useful, though basic information source for suicidal deaths. A 2-year analysis of all such reports in a major newspaper in Pakistan showed 306 suicides reported from 35 cities. Men (n = 208) outnumbered women by 2:1. While there were more single than married men, the trend was reversed in women. The majority of subjects were under 30 years of age and “domestic problems” was the most common reason stated. More than half the subjects used organophosphate insecticides, while psychotropics and analgesics were used infrequently. The study challenges the widely held belief that suicide is a rare phenomena in an Islamic country like Pakistan, and underscores the need for more culture specific research on this important public health problem.
The Privilege and Responsibility of Suicide Prevention*Presidential Address, presented at the 20th Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Athens, Greece, 6-10 November 1999.
Authors: Goldney Robert D
Published: April 2003

Each year about a million people worldwide take their lives, and a further unknown number, but probably no less than 20 million, attempt suicide. In addition, for every person who engages in suicidal behavior, another five or six will be associated with them in some way, making a conservative total of 100 million people worldwide who are affected each year—and to whom we have some degree of responsibility. There is no one approach to suicide prevention, and probably more so than for any other human condition, we are privileged to be able to collaborate with many different disciplines in our endeavors. However, there is a considerable responsibility to ensure that whatever our own area of expertise and interest may be, we should apply universal principals of objective analysis to these diverse contributions. This is addressed by examining research from four broad areas. First, there are studies that irrevocably bring together the sociological and biological approaches to suicide. Second, there are reports that support the notion of the universality of suicide. Third, despite considerable attention paid to the media, its influence on suicide is very limited. And finally, although there have been pessimistic reviews, there are persuasive data from innovative research designs that have documented that we can prevent suicide.
Elevated Rates of Suicidal Behavior in Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth
Authors: Bagley Christopher , Tremblay Pierre
Published: April 2003

Both clinical and epidemiological literature point to elevated rates of suicidal behaviors in gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth (GLBY). Recent North American and New Zealand studies of large populations (especially the US Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from several states) indicate that gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents (males in particular) can have rates of serious suicide attempts at least four times those of apparently heterosexual youth. There are various reasons why this figure is likely to be an underestimate. Reasons for these elevated rates of suicidal behavior include a climate of homophobic persecution in schools, and sometimes in family and community—values and actions that stigmatize homosexuality and that the youth who has not yet “come out” has to endure in silence.
Suicide Rates and Mental Health Services in Modern China
Authors: Jianlin Ji
Published: April 2003

Suicide rates in China have in the past been reported to be very low for a variety of historical and political reasons. In recent years, however, the reported suicide rates in China have increased alarmingly among certain age groups. This article reviews reports of the national rural suicide rates in China for 1992, gathered from the Annal of Chinese Public Health, which has previously never been reported publicly. The highest suicide rates occur in the rural areas and among young women and men over 60 years. These data reveal that suicide in China may have some unique characteristic associated with a variety of socio-cultural variables, such as traditional culture, social class, economic status, health care levels, and interpersonal problems. The author shows that lack of mental health services in rural areas in China may be considered one of associated reasons to the high rural suicide rate in China.
Education and Debriefing: Strategies for Preventing Crises in Crisis-Line Volunteers
Authors: Kinzel Audrey , Nanson Jo
Published: April 2003

Telephone crisis lines offer an important service to individuals in crisis. The accessibility as well as a lack of other means of support leads many individuals to call the line. The role of the volunteer is to listen and support the caller as well as provide information and referrals to other agencies. Agencies are presented with a high turnover of volunteers and are then faced with the task of recruiting and training replacements. Volunteers are often exposed to horrific accounts of human pain and suffering which may affect their personal thoughts, feelings, beliefs and actions and influence the decision to quit. Compassion fatigue is one term used for this inherent “cost of caring.” Many factors contribute to this cost including the nature of crisis calls, the repeat caller, and personal coping mechanisms. Educating and debriefing the volunteer are two strategies that may prevent the onset of compassion fatigue and volunteer resignation. Debriefing is viewed as an effective strategy for volunteers as it has been found to be successful in assisting other helpers in many different contexts to cope and deal with the traumatic events that they experience or hear about.
A Mass-Distributed CD-ROM for School-Based Suicide Prevention
Authors: Fendrich M , Mackesy-Amiti ME , Kruesi M
Published: April 2003

Recent violent events in schools in the United States have underscored the need for an examination of efforts aimed at mass education of school professionals on issues related to violence prevention and crisis intervention. A CD-ROM (“Team Up to Save Lives: What Your School Should Know About Preventing Youth Suicide”) was mass mailed to schools throughout the United States in January 1997. We conducted an initial evaluation of this intervention in the Chicago area and found that the scope of the CD's impact was relatively narrow: Only 39% of all schools with informants that were contacted actually reviewed the CD-ROM and provided feedback for the evaluation. Insufficient time, computer equipment, and training were the major obstacles to CD-ROM use and to participation in the evaluation. Among those reviewing the CD-ROM, overall perceptions regarding its utility were extremely favorable. Multiple instances in which the CD had been used to address actual crisis situations were identified.
The Measurement of Suicidal Ideation
Authors: Watson Darryl , Goldney Robert , Fisher Laura , Merritt Michael
Published: April 2003

A four-item suicidal ideation subscale of the GHQ-28 has been used previously to assess suicidal ideation on the basis of its face validity. In order to further validate its use, this study compared scores on this scale with scores on a well-established suicidal intent scale. There was a significant correlation between scores of that subscale and the self-report component as well as the overall score of the suicidal intent scale, thereby confirming its validity in providing a standardized method for comparing suicidal ideation in different populations.
Suicidal Ideation and Self-Determination in Institutionalized Elderly
Authors: Fortin Andrée , Lapierre Sylvie , Baillargeon Jacques , Labelle Réal , Dubé Micheline , Pronovost Jocelyne
Published: April 2003

The right to self-determination is central to the current debate on rational suicide in old age. The goal of this exploratory study was to assess the presence of self-determination in suicidal institutionalized elderly persons. Eleven elderly persons with serious suicidal ideations were matched according to age, sex, and civil status with 11 nonsuicidal persons. The results indicated that suicidal persons did not differ from nonsuicidal persons in level of self-determination. There was, however, a significant difference between groups on the social subscale. Suicidal elderly persons did not seem to take others into account when making a decision or taking action. The results are discussed from a suicide-prevention perspective.
Crisis Intervention Models in the French-Speaking Countries
Authors: De Clercq† M , Dubois V
Published: April 2003

The article presents the crisis intervention model devised by Andreoli (Geneva) which is currently being developed in most crisis units and emergency services in the French-speaking countries of Europe. Two clinical examples are presented: the Short Therapy Centre (Geneva, Switzerland) and the crisis unit of the Saint-Luc Clinic (Brussels, Belgium). The following aspects of these approaches are discussed: (a) the need for crisis intervention rather than a simple answer to emergency, (b) the need for crisis intervention in all acute psychiatric disorders and not only in psychosocial problems, (c) the need to integrate psychiatric hospitalization into a coherent mental health policy, (d) the need for well-trained and round-the-clock teams, (e) the need for continuity of care.
The Cardiff Sib-Pair Study
Authors: Farmer Anne , Redman Kate , Harris Tanya , Webb Ruth , Mahmood Arshad , Sadler Stephanie , McGuffin Peter
Published: April 2003

Summary: Depression is associated with high rates of suicidal ideation, which varies in intensity from transient thoughts of wishing to be dead to the making of plans and, finally, to attempts to kill oneself. There is limited evidence from family, twin, and adoption studies that completed suicide is familial and has a genetic etiological component. However, it is unclear whether suicidal ideation is also familial. The familiality of suicidal ideation has been examined in the subjects who participated in the Cardiff Depression Study, namely, 108 depressed probands, their nearest-aged siblings, and 105 healthy control subjects and their siblings. The study showed that 66% of depressed subjects had experienced suicidal ideation in the week prior to the interview, and that this was significantly associated with recurrent illness. Suicidal ideation was not shown to be familial. However, somewhat surprisingly, 6% of healthy, never-depressed subjects admitted to having had transient suicidal thoughts. Suicidal ideation was significantly associated with high neuroticism and psychoticism scores and severe threatening life events.
Deliberate Self-Harm Patients with Alcohol Disorders: Characteristics, Treatment, and Outcome
Authors: Haw Camilla , Houston Kelly , Townsend Ellen , Hawton Keith
Published: April 2003

Summary: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) patients with alcohol problems present a considerable challenge for clinical services. In a study of a sample of 150 DSH patients who were representative of all such patients seen at a general hospital during the study period, 40 patients with an ICD-10 diagnosis of alcohol dependence or harmful use of alcohol were compared with the remainder of the sample. The treatment of the patients with alcohol disorders before and after the episode of DSH and the outcome 12-20 months later were also investigated. Compared with other DSH patients, those with an alcohol diagnosis were older and more often male, living alone, unemployed, sick, disabled, or with a past history of DSH. They also had higher scores on measures of anger, aggression, and impulsivity. Comorbid psychiatric disorder was present in 37 (92.5%) patients, this being depression in three-quarters of those cases. Fourteen (35.0%) patients were receiving treatment from the psychiatric services prior to DSH, and 33 (82.5%) were subsequently offered treatment. Of the patients who were followed up, 37.9% remained in contact with psychiatric services, 55.2% showed poor compliance with treatment and 44.8% reported a further episode of DSH. All patients presenting after DSH need to be carefully screened for alcohol disorders and for comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. Treatment of DSH patients with alcohol disorders should include the treatment of any comorbid depressive illness.
Suicide and the Media
Authors: Pirkis Jane , Blood R. Warwick
Published: April 2003

Summary: Numerous studies have considered the association between media reporting and portrayal of suicide and actual suicidal behavior or ideation. This review considered 42 studies that have examined the nonfiction media (newspapers, television, and books). Consideration was given to the extent to which inferences could be made about the relationship between portrayal of suicide in the given media and actual suicidal behavior in terms of: the strength of its association; and the extent to which it could be considered causal. The review demonstrated that there is an association between nonfictional media portrayal of suicide and actual suicide. The association satisfies sufficient of the criteria of consistency, strength, temporality, specificity and coherence for it to be deemed causal.
Suicide and the Media
Authors: Blood R. Warwick , Pirkis Jane
Published: April 2003

Summary: The body of evidence suggests that there is a causal association between nonfictional media reporting of suicide (in newspapers, on television, and in books) and actual suicide, and that there may be one between fictional media portrayal (in film and television, in music, and in plays) and actual suicide. This finding has been explained by social learning theory. The majority of studies upon which this finding is based fall into the media “effects tradition,” which has been criticized for its positivist-like approach that fails to take into account of media content or the capacity of audiences to make meaning out of messages. A cultural studies approach that relies on discourse and frame analyses to explore meanings, and that qualitatively examines the multiple meanings that audiences give to media messages, could complement the effects tradition. Together, these approaches have the potential to clarify the notion of what constitutes responsible reporting of suicide, and to broaden the framework for evaluating media performance.
Mass Media, Cultural Attitudes, and Suicide
Authors: Fekete S. , Schmidtke A. , Takahashi Y. , Etzersdorfer E. , Upanne M. , Osvath P.
Published: April 2003

Summary: Many studies indicate that the suicidal behavior in a society is affected by the suicide stories publicized. Cultural valuations appear in the way media present self-destruction. The reflection of sociocultural attitudes toward suicide can be observed and analyzed in these texts. In this research, reports about suicide (n = 2203) in the years from 1981 and 1991 taken from daily newspapers were gathered—three central and regional papers in each country. A content analysis was performed of the suicide reports in Hungary (n = 244), Japan (n = 684), the United States (n = 265), Germany (former West n = 458, former East n = 60), Austria (n = 405), and Finland (n = 87), on the basis of the following variables: mentioning of the name, personal data, prominence of the suicidal person, qualification of the suicide, methods, motives, positive or negative consequences, alternatives, and the expression(s) used to refer to the act. After a coding process, an analysis was conducted as to whether any significant differences existed in the rate of the several characteristics in the countries from the point of view of the possible imitation-identification and of the cultural differences are the most important findings interpreted.[sentence is unclear]
Suicide and Suicide Attempts in Ankara in 1998: Results of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study of Suicidal Behaviour
Authors: Sayil Isik , Devrimci-Ozguven Halise
Published: April 2003

Summary: Background: The rates and associated basic demographic features of attempted and completed suicides in a catchment area in Turkey were investigated as part of the WHO/Euro Multicentre Study of Suicidal Behaviour. Method: All hospitals in the catchment area were screened in order to identify attempted suicides. Statistics for completed suicides were obtained from the State Institute of Statistics (SIS). Results: The rates of attempted and completed suicides per 100,000 inhabitants over 15 years of age were 31.9 for males and 85.6 for females, and 9.9 for males and 5.6 for females, respectively. The majority of attempted suicides were in the 15-24-year-old age group, as is the case in all other European countries. The majority of completed suicides were also in the 15-24-year-old age group, although in other European centers most completed suicides occur in the 40+ age group. The most frequent methods were overdose for attempted suicide and hanging for completed suicide. The rates of both attempted and completed suicides were lower than those of other participating centers in Europe. Conclusion: Male sex is a risk factor for completed suicide and female sex is a risk factor for attempted suicide, while an age of 15-24 years may be a risk factor for both groups.
The Protective Role of Parental Involvement in Adolescent Suicide
Authors: Flouri Eirini , Buchanan Ann
Published: April 2003

Summary: This study of 2722 adolescents aged 14-18 years explored whether parental involvement can protect against adolescent suicide attempts. Compared to their counterparts suicide attempters were more likely to have been in trouble with the police, to report lower levels of parental interest and academic motivation, and to report suicidal ideation and using alcohol or an illegal drug when they feel stressed. They were also less likely to reside with both parents. The association between parental involvement and suicidal behaviour was not stronger for sons than for daughters or for adolescents who had experienced family disruption than for those who grew up in two-parent families.
Incidence of Completed and Attempted Suicide in Trabzon, Turkey
Authors: Bilici Mustafa , Bekaroğlu Mehmet , Hocaoğlu Çiçek , Gürpınar Serhat , Soylu Cengiz , Uluutku Nafiz
Published: April 2003

Summary: Objective: Studies of completed and attempted suicide in Turkey are based on data of State Institute of Statistics (SIS) and emergency clinics of the large hospitals. This study seeks (1) to find, independent of the SIS and hospital data, the annual incidences of completed and attempted suicide in Trabzon, Turkey; (2) to examine the associated factors between the incidence of completed and attempted suicide. Method: The data are derived by using a method specially designed for this study. Data sources include emergency clinics in all hospitals, village clinics, the Forensic Medical Center of Trabzon, the Governorship of Trabzon, “mukhtars” (local village representatives) of neighborhoods, the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Trabzon, the Police Headquarters and Gendarmerie, and the local press organs. Results: The incidences of completed and attempted suicide per 100,000 inhabitants turned out to be 2.60 and 31.5, respectively, whereas the SIS reported the incidence of completed suicide to be 1.11 per 100,000 inhabitants in Trabzon in 1995. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that SIS data are inadequate for suicide research in Turkey. Our findings show that the risk of completed and attempted suicide is high in young, unmarried, and unemployed persons, and that these groups must be carefully evaluated for suicide risk. The study highlights the need for culture-specific research on suicidal behavior in Turkey.
Suicide after Deployment in UN Peacekeeping Missions—A Danish Pilot Study
Authors: Hansen-Schwartz J. , Jessen G. , Andersen K. , Jørgensen H.O.
Published: April 2003

Summary: This pilot study looks at the frequency of suicide among Danish soldiers who took part in the UN mandated forces (UNMF) during the 1990's. In a contingent of nearly 4000 Danish UN soldiers four suicides were documented, two of whom committed suicide less than one month before deployment and two who committed suicide within a year after discharge from mission. Contributing factors, prevention strategies, and implications for future research are discussed.
Suicides and Suicide Attempts in Emergency Medicine
Authors: Pajonk Frank-Gerald , Gruenberg Kai Arist Simon , Moecke Heinzpeter , Naber Dieter
Published: April 2003

Summary: Objective: In emergency medicine, suicides and attempted suicides represent a major challenge for emergency physicians (EPs) and paramedics, both in terms of psychiatric and somatic treatment. To date no investigations have been performed to determine prevalence rates, method of suicide or attempted suicide, and the problems faced by EPs when treating these patients. This investigation presents a first evaluation of the complete emergency protocols from a major German city focusing on suicide and parasuicide. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all EP protocols from 1995 in the city of Hamburg was performed. All protocols were evaluated with respect to suicide parasuicide and suicidal ideation. Demographic data and information on method of suicide or attempted suicide, severity of illness, and underlying psychiatric disorder were extracted from the protocols. Results: A total of 26,347 emergency protocols were evaluated. Suicide and attempted suicide were considered either certain, probable, or possible in 743 cases (2.8%). Suicide was committed in 171 cases and attempted were made by 572 individuals. More men committed suicide in all age groups. By far the highest number of suicide attempts were by young men between 18 and 39 years of age. Hanging was the most commonly used method of completed suicide (41%), followed by jumping from a height (21%). The methods of intoxication with medication (54%) and illegal drugs (17%) clearly prevailed in suicide attempts. Documentation of suicides and attempted suicides was revealed to be unsatisfactory. Underlying psychiatric disorders were scarcely recorded. Conclusion: In emergency medicine, the incidence of suicide or the attempt to commit suicide is small, yet disturbing. The frequency assessed may be too low as result of methodology. There is a need to improve the education of emergency physicians and paramedics in this area, and there is a need for data to be collected in a prospective design.
Suicidal Behavior in South Asians in the UK
Authors: Bhugra Dinesh
Published: April 2003

Summary: Rates of deliberate self-harm have been reported to be higher among South Asians, especially women, in the UK. Two studies collected information on inception rates of deliberate self-harm in the UK and reported that rates of attempted suicide are much higher among South Asian women especially those aged 18-24. These rates are associated with high rates of cultural alienation and previous attempts. The implications of cultural conflict are discussed in this context. In addition, a hypothetical model of interrelationship of factors for both adults and adolescents is described.
Beyond Risk Theory: Suicidal Behavior in its Social and Epidemiological Context
Authors: Neeleman J.
Published: April 2003

Summary: The effect of exposure to risk factors for suicidal behavior varies from place to place and from period to period. This may be due to contextual influences, which arise if individuals' suicide risk depends not only on their personal exposure to risk or protective factors, but also on how these are distributed in their social, cultural, economic, or even physical environments. There has been relatively little explicit attention in suicide research for such contextual influences even though they are an important component of the cross-level bias, which can arise when aggregate level associations are assumed to also apply in individuals and vice versa. Contextual effects are conceptually related to the issues of social selection vs. causation, population density, and network effects. Because of a lack of prospective multilevel research, it is unclear exactly which mechanisms underlie the phenomenon that the distribution of risk factors in an individual's context may affect their suicide risk above and beyond their personal exposure. A number of mechanisms, like deviancy amplification, formalization of restraints, and buffering effects of social support are proposed. Contextual effects may result in a concentration of suicide risk in persons when the risk factors they are exposed to become rare—whether spontaneously or through focused prevention. This has important but mostly overlooked implications for population-based prevention strategies.
Depression and Parasuicide in Refugee and Slovenian Adolescents
Authors: Slodnjak Vera , Kos Anica , Yule William
Published: April 2003

Summary: The association between depression and traumatic experiences, stress, loss, and bereavement is well known. It was expected that Bosnian refugee adolescents who had fled from war zones to Slovenia would develop higher levels of depression than their Slovenian peers without war traumatic experiences. Two years after the beginning of the war in Bosnia, 265 8th-grade refugee students aged 14 to 15 years were assessed with the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and compared with a sample of 195 Slovenian students of the same age. The Bosnian refugees showed significantly lower rates of depressive symptomatology despite very high rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Slovenian adolescents showed significantly lower self-esteem and greater feelings of inadequacy in the academic field; they were more likely to have feelings of not being loved and more often expressed the wish to kill themselves. Refugees described more sadness, worried about the future and about physical pains, but they do not show lower school achievement or more behavioral problems. The results indicate that the association between traumatic experiences and depressive symptoms is not inevitable, and that other factors including culture and context influences must be taken into account.
Suicide, Gender, and Age Variations in India
Authors: Mayer Peter , Ziaian Tahereh
Published: April 2003

Summary: A new set of data concerning the pattern of suicide in India between 1991-1997 are presented. Suicide rates rose over this period despite a small decline in the Indian suicide rate in 1995 and 1996. It was found that between 1995 and 1997 there was a modest fall in the suicide rates among under 29-year-olds of both sexes, and an increase among those 30 years and older. The pattern of suicides in India is bimodal: the incidence of suicides is highest for those in the 30-44-year-old category of both sexes and tends to decline in higher age categories. Suicide rates were nearly equal for young women and men, a contrast with the pattern of suicide sex ratios in eight developed countries.
Skin Conductance Responses of Spider Phobics to Backwardly Masked Phobic Cues
Authors: Mayer Birgit , Merckelbach Harald , de Jong Peter J. , Leeuw Ina
Published: April 2003

Abstract The present study was carried out to test Öhman's (1994) hypothesis that a pre-attentive analysis of phobic stimuli is sufficient for a fear response to occur. Spider phobic (n = 47) and nonphobic (n = 41) subjects were exposed to phobic slides (spiders) and nonphobic slides (flowers, mushrooms, and snakes) that were presented for 30 ms, 20 ms, or 15 ms. Slides were backwardly masked for 100 ms. This technique was used to prevent conscious identification. During each trial, SCRs were measured. Following each trial, subjects indicated what they had seen (forced choice awareness check). Awareness check data revealed that only 15 ms stimuli remained genuinely subliminal. No convincing evidence was found to suggest that masked spider pictures elicit stronger SCRs in spider phobics than neutral control pictures. All in all, the present data fail to provide straightforward support for the idea that subliminal phobic cues elicit differential autonomic reactions in phobics.
Assessment of Mild Head Injury with ERPs and Neuropsychological Tasks
Authors: Potter D.D. , Barrett K.
Published: April 2003

Abstract Mild head injury can result in the development of persistent symptoms including impairments of memory and attention in a small but significant minority. The problem in assessing these difficulties in such cases is the likely interaction of psychogenic and organic causes. The aim of the present research is to more accurately characterize the nature of these cognitive deficits. Twelve asymptomatic volunteers, who had experienced a mild head injury in the last 3.5 years, were compared to a matched control group. ERPs were recorded during the performance of the paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT) and a 3-stimulus auditory “oddball” task. Verbal paired associate. Trails A and B, Digit Symbol, Rey Figure Recall, NART, and Digit Span were also administered. The mild head injured group showed evidence of a mild impairment of episodic memory, slowing of attention shifting, but no changes in reaction time or error rates in either the “oddball” task or the PASAT. Although there was no evidence of impairment of brain orienting responses in the 3-stimulus auditory oddball task, there was evidence of reduced frontal negativity associated with changes in task demand in the PASAT. This particular ERP feature appears similar to those associated with activation of selective attention mechanisms, thus suggesting that these asymptomatic individuals may be showing signs of a mild impairment of allocation of attention resources.
Memory for Normal and Distorted Pictures: Modulation of the ERP Repetition Effect
Authors: Jordan Timothy R. , Thomas Sharon M.
Published: April 2003

Abstract Previous investigations of how ERP repetition effects are modulated by stimulus content have typically used words or non-words as stimuli. The extent to which these findings can be generalized to pictorial stimuli was examined in the present study. ERPs were recorded while participants viewed a series of pictures repeated over 5-7 intervening items. One set of pictures comprised colored depictions of a variety of objects and scenes, while other similar pictures were distorted to appear as abstract patterns of colored blocks. Repeated items were characterized by two main modulations of the ERP. An early positivity for second presentations as compared to first presentations appeared at around 200-300 ms, and was present for normal and distorted picture stimuli. A later, more sustained positivity emerged for the second presentations of normal pictures only. This later component had an onset latency of about 300 ms, lasting for some 400 ms. The results suggest that previously observed modulations of ERP repetition effects reflect the operation of processes which are not specific to verbal memory but may be observed for a wider range of visual stimuli.
The Effect of Cholinergic Receptor Blockade by Scopolamine on Memory Performance and the Auditory P3
Authors: Potter Douglas D. , Pickles Charles D. , Roberts Richard C. , Rugg Michael D.
Published: April 2003

Abstract Previous research has suggested a possible link between the effects of scopolamine-induced muscarinic cholinergic receptor blockade on memory and its effect on auditory P3 amplitude and latency. A potential problem with this hypothesis is that, although scopolamine has been reported to increase P3 latency in both visual and auditory modalities, amplitude reductions have been reported only in the case of auditory P3 at Cz. In the present study, subjects were injected intravenously with 5.7 μg/kg of scopolamine or saline in a double blind design. A significant reduction in verbal recognition memory performance was observed. This memory impairment was shown to be largely specific to the encoding of verbal material. The drug effect was of equal magnitude when words of either high or low word frequency were used. Auditory P3 was recorded from frontal central and parietal sites along the midline and over left and right hemispheres. In contrast to a number of earlier reports using a similar drug dose, only limited evidence was found of either latency increase or amplitude reduction of the auditory P3. Importantly, two potentially confounding drug-related ERP modulations were observed prior to and during the latency range of the P3. The first was a widespread increase in N2 amplitude and latency preceding the P3. The second was that ERPs became relatively more negative at frontal and central sites in the 200-450 ms latency range in both target and non-target conditions. Whether this effect is the result of an increase in negativity or a reduction in P3a amplitude remains to be determined. Interestingly, ERPs to target stimuli became significantly less positive at frontal sites in the drug condition in the latency range 400-900 ms. This is consistent with recent reports highlighting the importance of frontal regions in normal memory function. Previously hypothesized links between cholinergic receptor block ade, effects on P3 latency and amplitude, and drug-induced memory impairments are discussed in the light of these findings.
The Cortisol Response to Normal and Nocturnal Awakening
Authors: Hucklebridge F. , Clow A. , Rahman H. , Evans P.
Published: April 2003

Abstract Free cortisol as measured in saliva increases markedly following awakening. It is not clear, however, whether this is truly a stress-neuroendocrine response to awakening or a manifestation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) circadian cycle. We investigated whether the awakening cortisol response can be generated in the middle of nocturnal sleep, when secretory activity in the HPA axis is low. In a within subject design, salivary cortisol response was measured under three different awakening conditions: (1) awakening at the normal morning awakening time; (2) awakening four hours prior to normal awakening time, and (3) awakening the following morning after interrupted sleep. The overall main effect was a linear increase in free cortisol following awakening with no significant interaction with awakening condition. Cortisol levels, as determined by area under the cortisol curve calculated with reference to zero, did differ by awakening condition. The two morning awakening conditions were comparable but values were lower for night awakening. Area under the curve change (calculated with reference to the first awakening cortisol base value), however, did not distinguish the three awakening conditions. We conclude from these data that there is a clear free cortisol response to awakening for both nocturnal and morning awakening although the absolute levels produced are lower for nocturnal awakening when basal cortisol is low. Nocturnal interruption of sleep did not affect the subsequent morning response.
Influence of Variations in Body Hydration on Cognitive Function
Authors: Cian C. , Koulmann N. , Barraud P.A. , Raphel C. , Jimenez C. , Melin B.
Published: April 2003

Abstract Eight healthy men, unacclimated to heat, were submitted to variations in body hydration. The subjects were kept euhydrated, dehydrated by controlled passive hyperthermia or exercise on a treadmill up to a weight loss of 2.8%, or hyperhydrated using a solution containing glycerol, with a total ingested volume equal to 21.4 ml/kg of body weight. On completion of a 90-min recovery period, the subjects were assigned a pedaling exercise on an arm-crank ergometer. Psychological tests were administered 30 min after the phase of hydration variation and 15 min after the arm crank exercise. Both dehydration conditions impaired cognitive abilities (i.e., perceptive discrimination, psycho-motor skills, and short-term memory) as well as subjective estimates of fatigue, without any relevant differences between them. Short-term memory was significantly greater following hyperhydration when compared to euhydration (P < .05). Following arm crank exercise, further effects of dehydration were found for tracking performance only (P < .05). Moreover, long-term memory was impaired in both control and dehydration situations, whereas there was no decrement in performance in the hyperhydration condition.