Mortality and Causes of Death in a 10-Year Follow-Up of Patients Treated for Self-Poisonings in Oslo

The present 10-year follow-up study includes all patients (N = 926; 50% females) treated in the medical departments in Oslo for self-poisonings during one year (1980). Seventeen percent were considered suicidal attempts upon admission, 25% among the non-substance abusers and 8% among the abusers. At follow-up, 207 patients (22%) were dead (62% males). The mortality rate was highest among the abusers. The most common causes of death were suicide (21%), heart disease (17%), opiate abuse (15%), and accidents/wounds (13%). Forty-one percent of the suicides occurred during the first two years of the follow-up period. The suicides were by poisoning (57%), hanging (20%), and other methods (23%). The female mortality rate decreased in the second half of the follow-up period whereas the male rate did not change. The risk of death within 10 years after discharge increased with age and was higher in men and in abusers, whereas social group and motive for suicide were not predictive factors. The females had an excess suicide rate of 182 (36–327, 95% CI) in the first year after the self-poisoning and 61 (36–87, 95% CI) in the total period. The corresponding figures for males were 70 (19–122) and 21 (12–30). The only factor associated with an increased suicide rate was a suicidal motive upon the admission for self-poisoning with a 3.1 (1.7–5.8, 95% CI) times increased risk of suicide in the 10-year follow-up period.     

The failing measurement of attitudes: How semantic determinants of individual survey responses come to replace measures of attitude strength

The traditional understanding of data from Likert scales is that the quantifications involved result from measures of attitude strength. Applying a recently proposed semantic theory of survey response, we claim that survey responses tap two different sources: a mixture of attitudes plus the semantic structure of the survey. Exploring the degree to which individual responses are influenced by semantics, we hypothesized that in many cases, information about attitude strength is actually filtered out as noise in the commonly used correlation matrix. We developed a procedure to separate the semantic influence from attitude strength in individual response patterns, and compared these results to, respectively, the observed sample correlation matrices and the semantic similarity structures arising from text analysis algorithms. This was done with four datasets, comprising a total of 7,787 subjects and 27,461,502 observed item pair responses. As we argued, attitude strength seemed to account for much information about the individual respondents. However, this information did not seem to carry over into the observed sample correlation matrices, which instead converged around the semantic structures offered by the survey items. This is potentially disturbing for the traditional understanding of what survey data represent. We argue that this approach contributes to a better understanding of the cognitive processes involved in survey responses. In turn, this could help us make better use of the data that such methods provide.     

Aspects of Fluency in Writing

The notion of ‘fluency’ is most often associated with spoken-language phenomena such as stuttering. The present article investigates the relevance of considering fluency in writing. The basic argument for raising this question is empirical—it follows from a focus on difficulties in written and spoken language as manifestations of different problems which should be investigated separately on the basis of their symptoms. Key-logging instruments provide new possibilities for the study of writing. The obvious use of this new technology is to study writing as it unfolds in real time, instead of focusing only on aspects of the end product. A more sophisticated application is to exploit the key-logging instrument in order to test basic assumptions of contemporary theories of spelling. The present study is a dictation task involving words and ‘non-words’, intended to investigate spelling in nine-year-old pupils with regard to their mastery of the doubling of consonants in Norwegian. In this study, we report on differences with regard to temporal measures between a group of strong writers and a group of poor ones. On the basis of these pupils’ writing behavior, the relevance of the concept of ‘fluency’ in writing is highlighted. The interpretation of the results questions basic assumptions of the cognitive hypothesis about spelling; the article concludes by hypothesizing a different conception of spelling.     

A critical discussion of Prior’s philosophical and tense-logical analysis of the ideas of indeterminism and human freedom

This paper is a critical discussion of A.N. Prior’s contribution to the modern understanding of indeterminism and human freedom of choice. Prior suggested that these ideas should be conceived in terms of his tense logic. It can be demonstrated that his approach provides an attractive formalization that makes it possible to discuss indeterminism and human freedom of choice in a very precise manner and in a broader metaphysical context. It is also argued that Prior’s development of this approach was closely linked to his very personal struggles with fundamental religious and metaphysical questions. In his opinion, holding the doctrine of divine foreknowledge together with the doctrine of human freewill gives rise to difficult logical and philosophical problems. It appears that Prior, rather early on, decided to support what was later known as the Peircean solution, although he also analysed what he considered to be the most important alternative solution—the Ockhamist solution. This paper offers a discussion of some of Prior’s published books and papers as well as some of the papers in his Nachlass.

     

How Much for the Child?

In this paper we explore what sacrifices you are morally required to make to save a child who is about to die in front of you. It has been argued that you would have very demanding duties to save such a child (or any adult who is in similar circumstance through no fault of their own, for that matter), and some examples have been presented to make this claim seem intuitively correct. Against this, we argue that you do not in general have a moral requirement to bear more than moderate cost to save even a child who is just in front of you. Moreover, we explain why you have a much more demanding moral requirement in certain cases by appealing to the notions of undue risk and cost sharing.     

Reliability and validity of the Norwegian translation of the Child Eating Disorder Examination (ChEDE)

Frampton, I., Wisting, L., Øverås, M., Midtsund, M. & Lask, B. (2011). Reliability and validity of the Norwegian translation of the Child Eating Disorder Examination (ChEDE). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 196–199. The Child Eating Disorder Examination (ChEDE) is a valid and reliable semi‐structured interview, which measures eating‐disorder specific psychopathology in children and young adolescents. The instrument is an adaptation of version 12.0D of the original Eating Disorder Examination (EDE 12.0) for adults. The Norwegian translation of the ChEDE is currently the only instrument for assessing eating disorder psychopathology in Norwegian children and adolescents. This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Norwegian translation of the ChEDE 12.0. The Norwegian version of ChEDE 12.0 was administered to 15 Norwegian children with anorexia nervosa (AN), 15 children with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM) and two groups of 15 age‐matched controls. The groups were compared using a matched pairs design. The results showed that the subscale scores of the AN group were significantly higher than those of the other groups, and the DM comparison group did not differ from its control group. The current AN group scored significantly higher on the Shape Concern subscale than the previous UK sample, with implications for construct validity or cross‐cultural effects worthy of further study. Inter‐rater reliability was generally high (r = 0.91 to 1.00), although there were significant differences between raters on specific items for individual participants. Alpha coefficients for each of the ChEDE subscales indicated a high degree of internal consistency. It was concluded that the Norwegian version of the ChEDE 12 has adequate psychometric properties and can be recommended for clinical and research use with young people with eating disorders in Norway.     

Stigmatization and Male Identity: Norwegian Males’ Experience after Identification as BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers

In families with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, there is limited knowledge about the reactions of BRCA1/2 mutation positive males. In the present qualitative study, fifteen BRCA1/2 mutation positive men in Norway participated in two successive, in-depth interviews. Seven female partners participated in the second interview. The men reported strong emotional reactions to their positive test results, and they expressed a desire to keep the genetic information private. They considered discussing their test results or health related information with other males as difficult, and they perceived females as their sources of social and emotional support. Interestingly, the second interview revealed important information not communicated during the first interview. The findings of this study contribute to the discussion of whether men who test positive for a BRCA1/2 mutation should receive tailored genetic counseling sessions. Health care providers should be aware of psychological vulnerability in these men, likely stemming from fewer emotional supports in their social networks.     

Leaders in Selling and Sales Management

Little empirical research has been reported on multinational sales force management, and none on organizational aspects. Reported here are results from a 14 MNC-135 subsidiary survey of overseas sales management practices. They show that MNCs use independent sales organizations to augment company personnel in affluent markets, in physically-large countries, and where markets are geographically-dispersed or culturally-fragmented. In addition, about one sales force in five covers more than one national market. Industry factors are important in the structuring of sales forces, suggesting that industry practices are carried into overseas markets.