University Students' Perceived Self‐Efficacy in Identifying Suicidal Warning Signs and Helping Suicidal Friends Find Campus Intervention Resources

Currently, suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth 18 to 24 years of age and the second leading cause of death on college campuses. A sample of students (N = 1,019) from three midwestern universities were surveyed regarding their perceived self‐efficacy in identifying suicide warning signs and campus suicide intervention resources. The results indicated that 11% strongly believed they could recognize a friend at suicidal risk, while 17% strongly believed they could ask a friend if he or she was suicidal. Students who had received high school suicide prevention education and who had ever had a family member or friend express suicidal thoughts to them were those most confident in recognizing a friend at risk, asking a friend if he/she is suicidal, and helping a friend to see a counselor. Most (71%) were not aware of on‐campus help resources. These findings underscore the importance of suicide prevention education throughout the high school and college years.     

问题性网络使用对初中生自杀意念的影响:一个有调节的中介模型

采用戴维斯在线认知量表、自杀意念自评量表、UCLA孤独感量表以及领悟社会支持量表，对江西赣州九所公立学校三个年级的1311名初中生进行测查，探讨问题性网络使用对初中生自杀意念的影响及作用机制。结果发现：（1）问题性网络使用对初中生的孤独感和自杀意念都有显著的正向预测作用；（2）孤独感在问题性网络使用与初中生自杀意念之间起着部分中介作用；（3）孤独感和自杀意念的关系（中介效应的后半段路径）受到领悟社会支持的调节，即孤独感对自杀意念的影响随着领悟社会支持的增强而减弱。因此，问题性网络使用和初中生自杀意念之间存在孤独感的中介作用和领悟社会支持的调节作用。     

The Moderating Effects of Gratitude on the Association Between Perceived Parenting Styles and Suicidal Ideation

Suicidal ideation is defined as the thoughts about engaging in suicidal-related behaviors. Very few studies have been conducted on children’s suicidal ideation as there is a biased perception that suicidal behavior under the age of 12 is scarce. However, suicide is the leading cause of death among young children. Child suicidal ideation is predictive of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in adulthood. Association between certain parenting styles and suicidal ideation have been found in empirical studies. However, little is known about the role of parenting and suicidal ideation in Chinese young children. We examined whether gratitude can reduce the risk of suicide by moderating the association between parenting styles and child suicidal ideation. We recruited 447 Chinese children (53.3% female; mean age?=?10.06, SD?=?1.76) to participate in a survey. Perceived parenting style (warmth/accepting, dominating, and autonomy granting), gratitude, and suicidal ideation were assessed using self-reported measures. We found that all three perceived parental styles were significantly associated with child suicidal ideation. Further, gratitude was found to have a significant moderating effect on suicidal ideation, across the analysis of the three perceived parenting styles. This suggests that gratitude may be adopted in preventive and clinical interventions so that children at risk can benefit from reducing the negative effects of ineffective parenting styles and suicidal ideation.     

歧视知觉与留守初中生孤独感和问题行为：师生关系和同学关系的作用

采用问卷法对894名农村留守初中生进行调查,探讨歧视知觉与留守初中生孤独感和问题行为的关系,并考察师生关系和同学关系的作用。结果表明,歧视知觉正向预测留守初中生的孤独感和问题行为,师生关系、同学关系负向预测留守初中生的孤独感和问题行为;师生关系削弱了歧视知觉对母亲外出留守初中生孤独感的作用,同学关系削弱了歧视知觉对双亲外出留守初中生孤独感的作用;但师生关系和同学关系增强了歧视知觉对母亲外出和双亲外出留守初中生问题行为的作用。研究结果提示,歧视知觉是影响留守初中生孤独感和问题行为的危险因素,良好的师生关系和同学关系有利于降低留守初中生的孤独感、有利于预防和减少留守初中生的问题行为。     

Predictors of school engagement among same-sex and heterosexual adoptive parents of Kindergarteners

Little research has explored parental engagement in schools in the context of adoptive parent families or same-sex parent families. The current cross-sectional study explored predictors of parents' self-reported school involvement, relationships with teachers, and school satisfaction, in a sample of 103 female same-sex, male same-sex, and heterosexual adoptive parent couples (196 parents) of kindergarten-age children. Parents who reported more contact by teachers about positive or neutral topics (e.g., their child's good grades) reported more involvement and greater satisfaction with schools, regardless of family type. Parents who reported more contact by teachers about negative topics (e.g., their child's behavior problems) reported better relationships with teachers but lower school satisfaction, regardless of family type. Regarding the broader school context, across all family types, parents who felt more accepted by other parents reported more involvement and better parent–teacher relationships; socializing with other parents was related to greater involvement. Regarding the adoption-specific variables, parents who perceived their children's schools as more culturally sensitive were more involved and satisfied with the school, regardless of family type. Perceived cultural sensitivity mattered more for heterosexual adoptive parents' relationships with their teachers than it did for same-sex adoptive parents. Finally, heterosexual adoptive parents who perceived high levels of adoption stigma in their children's schools were less involved than those who perceived low levels of stigma, whereas same-sex adoptive parents who perceived high levels of stigma were more involved than those who perceived low levels of stigma. Our findings have implications for school professionals, such as school psychologists, who work with diverse families.     

Psychosocial health of 4-year-old boys and girls,as observed by parents and teachers

Both parents and teachers assessed the psychosocial health of 228 4-year-old children at the start of elementary school in the Netherlands. Assessments were conducted using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL; ages 1 ½–5) and the Caregiver–Teacher Report Form (C-TRF; ages 1½–5). Results were compared to epidemiological studies with respect to informants, instruments, gender and age of the children. Most children in this study were thriving. The percentage of children without problems varied from 88 to 98%. The difference depended on the informant (parent or teacher) and the gender. Teachers recognized significantly more externalizing problems among girls and anxious/depressed problems among boys and girls. Parents reported more somatic complaints among girls. The problems identified by parents and teachers did not predominantly concern the same children. This has to be taken into account in the case of screening on psychosocial problems.     

Latina Adolescent Suicide Ideations and Attempts: Associations with Connectedness to Parents,Peers, and Teachers

Associations between suicidal behavior and social‐ecological variables were examined among 1,618 Latina high school students (mean age = 15) from the nationally representative Add Health sample (68% were U.S.‐born). Ideations were associated with having a suicidal friend, lower perceived father support, and overall parental caring. Attempts were associated with having a suicidal friend, and lower perceived teacher and parental support. Peer and mother relationship variables were not predictors of ideations or attempts. The protective role of father and teacher support has not previously been emphasized in the literature. Strengthening connections to parents and teachers may reduce suicidal behavior in adolescent Latinas.     

Suicidal ideation among adolescent school children, involvement in bully-victim problems, and perceived social support.

Relationships among suicidal ideation, involvement in bully-victim problems at school, and perceived social support were investigated with samples of adolescent students (N = 1103 and N = 845) attending secondary school in South Australia. Results obtained from self-reports and peer nomination procedures to identify bullies and victims indicated that involvement in bully-victim problems at school, especially for students with relatively little social support, was significantly related to degree of suicidal ideation.     

Gender‐specific factors associated with the suicidal ideation of children in Taiwan: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

We examined the relationship between suicidal ideation (SI) and the depressed mood, life stress and parenting styles in children. A large‐scale survey was conducted including 5328 children from 65 elementary schools in Taiwan. SI was measured by asking children if any suicidal thoughts had occurred in the previous month. A series of regression models was analysed separately for male and female students. Compared with boys, girls demonstrated a higher proportion of SI. Among boys, SI was significantly associated with a high level of perceived environmental stress (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.61), a high degree of depressed mood (aOR = 2.39), authoritative (aOR = 1.72) and authoritarian (aOR = 2.53) parenting styles and two or more life‐stress events (aOR = 1.45). A high level of perceived environmental stress (aOR = 2.09), a high degree of depressed mood (aOR = 2.89) and an authoritarian parenting style (aOR = 1.76) were significantly associated with the SI in girls. Gender‐specific interventions aimed at preventing SI must enhance support systems at school and at home, particularly for students who suffer from a high degree of stress and depressed mood, and are subjected to an authoritarian parenting style.     

Parents’ Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder Etiology and Recurrence Risk and Effects of their Perceptions on Family Planning: Recommendations for Genetic Counselors

Knowledge about the etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) is increasing, but causes remain elusive for most cases. Genetic counselors are positioned to help families that have children with ASDs despite uncertainty regarding etiology. To determine how genetic counselors might best provide services, an anonymous survey was conducted with 255 parents whose children were diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Questions concerned: 1) their perceptions of ASD cause(s) and 2) recurrence risk, 3) whether perceived risk affected family planning decisions, 4) whether parents had received genetic services, and 5) how genetic counselors might assist families. The most prevalent perceived cause was genetic influences (72.6%). Most parents’ recurrence risk perceptions were inaccurately high and significantly affected family planning. Only 10% had seen a genetic professional related to an ASD. Parents provided several suggestions for genetic counselor best practices. Findings indicate the importance of genetic counselor awareness of parent perceptions in order to best help families who have children with ASDs.     

Behavioural and Emotional Development in Children of Divorce

This study reports on teacher perceptions of the impact of parental divorce on behaviour and emotional development in children of divorce. Participants were a purposive sampling of 80 primary school learners with parental divorce experience and a comparison group of 40 others from typical or intact families (n = 120: males = 64; females = 56; age range = 6 to 12 years). Teachers completed the Conners' Rating Scales—Revised (CRS—R: Conners, 1998; Casat et al., 1999) on each of the learners. The findings suggest that teachers perceive younger children from divorced parents were more likely to have emotional and behavioural challenges than those from intact families. By contrast, teachers perceived older children from intact were to have emotional and behavioural difficulties.     

The relationship between self‐perception of physical attractiveness and sexual bullying in early adolescence

The relationship between self‐perception of physical attractiveness and four measures of sexual bullying behavior (victimization, perpetration, having friends who sexually bully, and observation of sexual bullying among peers at school) was examined in a sample of 396 middle school age students. Students who perceived themselves to be more physically attractive than their peers reported sexually bullying others more, being sexually bullied by others more, observing more sexual bullying, and having more friends who sexually bully others than did students who perceived themselves as average looking. In addition, males who perceived themselves to be less physically attractive than their peers reported being victimized more and reported observing more sexual bullying in the school environment. These findings highlight the importance of physical attractiveness in the early initiation of sexual harassment. Implications for future research and interventions with early adolescents are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:271–281, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Trauma-Focused CBT for Traumatic Grief in Military Children

Although military children are typically as resilient as the general child population, the ongoing conflict has exposed military children to unusual stressors such as repeated deployment, severe injury, or the death of a parent or sibling. U.S. forces have experienced more than 5,600 casualties during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, with growing numbers of suicides among Service members. These deaths have affected thousands of military children. Most bereaved military children experience adaptive grief characterized by deep sadness, longing for the deceased person, and being comforted by positive memories of the deceased. A smaller number of military children develop childhood traumatic grief, characterized by trauma symptoms that interfere with adaptive grieving. Children with traumatic grief get “stuck” on the traumatic aspects of the death such as picturing the imagined or real details of the death; imagining the pain their loved one experienced in the moments before dying; wishing for revenge; and becoming angry at those who do not understand or share the child’s thoughts and feelings about the death. These children avoid reminders of the deceased person. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for children with trauma symptoms including those with traumatic grief. TF-CBT may be particularly suitable for military families. This article describes the clinical application of TF-CBT for traumatic grief in military children.     

Building social support for adolescents with suicidal ideation: implications for school guidance and counselling

This study involved interviews with 13 adolescents with high levels of suicidal ideation. It aimed to understand how these adolescents perceived their family, school and peer relationships, and how they perceived these systems as their support. Comparison between adolescents with severe and mild suicidal ideation showed that the family, school and peers could act as effective support systems in times of stress. A close interpersonal relationship was the key factor in unlocking these support systems. The school as a support system was highlighted. Implications for school guidance and counselling to strengthen the social support of adolescents and adolescents' resiliency were discussed.     

The structure of fantasied movement in suicidal children and adolescents

Guided by the hypothesis that imagining actions is a way of rehearsing actions in the service of effective adaptations to reality, various characteristics of imagined motion, assessed by the Rorschach Test, were compared in hospitalized suicidal and nonsuicidal preadolescents and adolescents, and in public school children. A number of differences were found for example, suicidal children imagined less vigorous motion than distinguished suicidal and nonsuicidal children and preadolescent and adolescent suicidal children. Further, the scale devised to assess imagined motion successfully predicted about 75 percent of the suicidal children. Implications for diagnosis and treatment of suicidal children are discussed.     

The study of suicidal behavior in the schools

The studies reviewed indicate that suicidal behavior is infrequent among school children (12%), but increases progressively among junior high (35%), high school (65%), and college students (50-65%). Though considerable, these values are lower than those of similar-age psychiatric populations. Estimates of the rate of actual attempts were 3% for elementary students, 11% for high school students, and 15-18% for college students. Most were low-lethality attempts for which medical or other attention was not sought. Accordingly, the vast majority of suicide attempts will not be uncovered by investigations dealing solely with clinical or medically identified populations. The most commonly identified correlates of suicidal behaviors included depressive symptoms, social problems, family disorganization and problems, life stress, and poor problem-solving skills. Academic problems were not as important. These findings must be interpreted in light of methodological constraints. Response rates have been low, samples have been small, minorities have been underrepresented, nonstudents have been ignored, and volunteers of unreported characteristics have predominated. The representativeness of such groups is questionable. The definition and categorization of behaviors have varied considerably, making between-study comparisons difficult. The differences among thoughts, threats, and attempts (the most frequently used categories) have often not been taken into account. Rather, in analyses, these behaviors have been treated as if they were homogeneous entities and grouped together. Where attempters have been separated from ideators, they too have been treated as a single entity. Many deliberately survived attempts are manipulative and oriented toward the benefits the individual survivors expect. Such attempts probably differ substantially in nature from those attempts where survival is not intended. Understanding of this phenomenon could be enhanced by a comparison of the characteristics of those with high- and low-lethality attempts. Similarly, a third group of behaviors--that of chronic behavior patterns that potentially hasten death (alcoholism, drug abuse, self-mutilation, and risk taking)--has not been adequately addressed in terms of its relationship to more discrete suicidal events. Data have generally been obtained via anonymous self-administered questionnaires. The accuracy of retrospective self-reports on emotionally laden events is suspect. Only in two instances have self-reported questionnaire data been validated via interviews with subjects alone or subjects and their families. The time frames on which the referent behaviors has been collected have included "last week", "last month", "last year", "lifetime", and not specified. The longer the interval between the occurrence of the behavior and the report, the greater the likelihood that some reporting inaccuracies may occur.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Social support networks among families of children with craniofacial anomalies

Investigated the social support available to families of children born with craniofacial anomalies and the perceived degree of satisfaction derived from these relationships. Thirty-six children (1 month to 5 years old) born with craniofacial deformities (FD) were matched by age and sex to 36 children with no significant physical or behavioral problems. The Social Support Questionnaire-Revised, the Revised Denver Developmental Screening Test, and a semistructured interview were administered. Results indicated that parents of FD children reported less available social support and were significantly less satisfied with their support. Parents of children who had more severe physical impairments and were rated as less attractive reported having less available and less satisfying social support. In particular, the social competence of the child was the most important predictor of parental social support. This result is interesting as the parents of FD children appeared to underreport the presence of behavioral-psychological problems in their children.     

Understanding the Pathways from Depression to Suicidal Risk from the Perspective of the Interpersonal–Psychological Theory of Suicide

Suicide is a major public health concern, especially in adolescence. Identifying risk factors for suicide is important to effectively prevent such behavior. Depression is one of the most widely examined risk factors for suicidal risk. How depression and suicidal risk are related, however, is still not clear. This study tested a model with three key constructs of the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicidal behavior (IPTS)—perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI)—as mediators in the relationship between depression and suicidal risk among Chinese adolescents. Chinese high school students (N = 1,074; 54.2% male; M_age = 13.87 years, SD = 1.48) completed questionnaires assessing all study variables. Results suggested that perceived burdensomeness and NSSI partially mediated the relationship between depression and suicidal risk. Findings of this study emphasize the importance of the IPTS framework in understanding the possible mechanisms underlying the relationship between depression and suicidal risk, and suggest a possible avenue for suicide interventions.     

ADOLESCENT PERCEPTIONS OF PARENTAL POWER: DO FAMILY SIZE AND ORDINAL POSITION OF THE CHILD MAKE A DIFFERENCE?*

The literature suggests that parent-child interactions differ in relation to both birth order and family size. There are arguments in the literature concerning whether observed effects should be attributed to structural factors or to such demographic variables as SES and parental education. The present research attempts to deal with some of the theoretical questions and methodological problems encountered in determining mediators of birth order and parental interaction effects. Reports of parental involvement, or indices of such involvement, in 34 interaction areas were collected from 189 Iranian high school students from families of at least 2 children, and were analyzed using multiple regression procedures. In general, results showed birth order effects were mediated by size of family. Respondents from ‘small’ families (of 2–4 children) differed from those from larger families. In large families, first-borns had the most paternal (or the least maternal) orientations. In small families, last-boms had the most paternal (least maternal) orientations. Middle-borns were not significantly different from the first-boms in small or in large families. It is concluded that further cross-cultural studies of differential parental interaction with different birth orders are needed before a theoretical framework can be offered to explain birth order effects.     

Adoption Is a Successful Natural Intervention Enhancing Adopted Children's IQ and School Performance

ABSTRACT— Is the cognitive development of adopted children different from that of (a) children who have remained in institutional care or in their birth families or (b) their current (environmental) nonadopted siblings or peers? We attempt to answer these questions on the basis of a meta-analysis of 62 studies including 17,767 adopted children. Compared to their nonadopted siblings or peers who stayed behind, adopted children scored substantially higher on IQ tests and they performed much better at school. Compared to their current nonadopted environmental peers or siblings, adopted children showed similar IQ scores but their school performance and language abilities lagged somewhat behind. Most importantly, we found a twofold increase in special-education referrals in adopted children compared to their nonadopted peers. Taken together, the findings document the positive impact of adoption on children's cognitive development and adopted children's remarkably normal cognitive competence but somewhat delayed school performance.