The Relations of Temperament and Emotion Self-regulation with Suicidal Behaviors in a Clinical Sample of Depressed Children in Hungary

Although major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with suicidal behaviors, some depressed individuals are not suicidal and others evidence various forms of suicidality. We thus investigated whether aspects of temperament and self-regulation of dysphoria represent risk factors for DSM-IV suicidality (recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and suicide attempt) in depressed youths. Using a sample of children with MDD (N = 407; ages 7-14 years), recruited from clinical sites across Hungary, we tested the hypotheses that: (a) suicidality is related to higher levels of trait negative emotionality as well as more maladaptive and fewer adaptive regulatory responses to dysphoria and (b) as the severity of suicidal behavior increases, levels of trait negative emotionality and dysfunctional emotion regulation also increase. We also explored if other aspects of temperament relate to suicidality. Children's DSM-IV diagnoses were based on semi-structured interviews and best-estimate psychiatric consensus. Parents independently provided ratings of their children's temperament, and children separately completed an inventory of emotion regulation (ER). Using multivariate models, we failed to confirm the hypothesized relations of negative trait emotionality and suicidality, but confirmed that high maladaptive and low adaptive ER response tendencies increase the odds of suicidal behaviors, above and beyond the risk posed by depressive illness severity. Unplanned interaction terms between temperament dimensions (other than negative emotionality) and ER suggested that at some high-extremes of temperament, ER has no impact on suicidality but in their absence, adaptive ER lowers the risk of suicidality. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Modeling Family Dynamics in Children with Fragile X Syndrome

Few studies have examined the impact of children with genetic disorders and their unaffected siblings on family functioning. In this study, the reciprocal causal links between problem behaviors and maternal distress were investigated in 150 families containing a child with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and an unaffected sibling. Both children's behavior problems appeared to have strong, direct effects on maternal distress, but maternal distress did not appear to have any reciprocal causal effects on either child's behavior problems. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences in the effects of the two children's behavior problems on maternal distress. These data suggest that the problem behaviors of children with FXS, as well as their unaffected siblings, can have a substantial and additive impact on maternal depression and anxiety. Future research efforts should employ longitudinal research designs to confirm these findings.     

The perception of time heals all wounds: temporal distance affects willingness to forgive following an interpersonal transgression

Prior research has assessed the temporal unfolding of forgiveness and found that forgiveness becomes more likely as time distances the victim from the transgression. These findings lend credence to the axiom "time heals all wounds." This research examines the effect of time perception on forgiveness of others by experimentally manipulating temporal distance. In Experiment 1, respondents reported greater willingness to forgive the transgressor when more time had elapsed since the transgression. Experiments 2 and 3 determined the influence of subjective temporal distance on willingness to forgive. Participants who perceived a hypothetical (Experiment 2) or real (Experimental 3) transgression to be farther away in time were more willing to forgive the target than were participants who perceived the event to be temporally closer. Results suggest that temporal appraisals of an event are central to the forgiveness process.     

For better or worse? The moral and policy lessons of Minnesota's HealthRight legislation

Minnesota's recently enacted HealthRight legislation places the state at the forefront of American health reform. How did the state manage to overcome the policy gridlock in evidence in other states and at the national level? And how well does the legislation fare under close ethical scrutiny? Among the most important factors that permitted Minnesota to enact reforms were the explicit linkage in the legislative debate of the goal of cost containment to the desire to expand access, the public perception that HealthRight is incremental and consistent with earlier reform efforts in Minnesota, and the lengthy public debate that preceded the enactment of HealthRight. Although it endeavors to create a fair and efficient health care system, it is not at all certain that HealthRight, in its present form, will achieve these normative goals.