The Definition and Epidemiology of Clusters of Suicidal Behavior: A Systematic Review

Suicide clusters are a rare and underresearched phenomenon which attract wide media attention and result in heightened concern in the communities where they occur. We conducted a systematic literature review covering the definition and epidemiology of the time–space clustering of suicidal behavior. Of the 890 articles identified by electronic searching, 82 were selected for inclusion and the extracted data were analyzed by narrative synthesis. Less than a third of studies included a definition of a suicide cluster, and definitions varied considerably. Clusters occurred in various settings, including psychiatric hospitals, schools, prisons, indigenous communities, and among the general population. Most clusters involved young people. The proportion of all episodes that occurred in clusters varied considerably between studies and partly depended on study methodology (e.g., a larger proportion was found in studies of specific clusters compared with general population studies). Future studies should aim to combine the statistical analysis of time–space clustering with a case study of events, which examines potential links between individuals and the wider environmental context.     

Type of stimulus mediates the relationship between working-memory performance and type of precocity

The relationship between type of stimulus (numeric and verbal) and type of precocity (mathematical and verbal) was examined in tasks designed to tap three aspects of working memory: encoding, capacity, and manipulation of information. The tasks included semantic categorization, odd-even categorization, recall of five-item lists after semantic categorization, and recall of items in a continuous paired-associates task. Correlations between task performance and the mathematical and verbal portions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M and SAT-V) were computed for gifted youth. There were no sex differences in the performance measures or in the pattern of correlations between performance and SAT scores. The analysis revealed positive relationships between SAT-M scores and numeric categorization latency, recall in the continuous paired-associate task with words and digits, and recall of digit lists. SAT-V scores were related only to word recall in the continuous paired-associate task and recall of word lists. In the working-memory tasks used, mathematical precocity is more strongly related to performance than is verbal precocity. The relationship is especially strong with numeric stimuli, even when the numeric stimuli are simply items to be remembered. The relationship between type of stimulus and type of precocity suggests underlying differences between verbally and mathematically precocious youth in how different types of stimuli are represented in memory.     

Short-Term Pastoral Counseling and the Use of Reframing

The purpose of this article is to deal with the advantage of combining short-term counseling with reframing techniques. Short-term counseling states that a) focusing on only one problem, and b) agreeing on a fixed amount of sessions will make the counselee more eager to change before the amount of sessions are spent. The thesis of the paper is that those counselees that engage in short-term counseling will be more resistant to change than the criteria of short-term counseling suggests. Some counselees want to initiate a power struggle with the counselor about the impossibility of change. Rather than giving in to such a struggle, the counselor should use reframing techniques to make the counselee see the problem from a new perspective. Reframing techniques are more likely to make the counselee solve the problem.     

Stimulus modality interacts with category structure in perceptual category learning

Two experiments were conducted that examined information integration and rule-based category learning, using stimuli that contained auditory and visual information. The results suggest that it is easier to perceptually integrate information within these sensory modalities than across modalities. Conversely, it is easier to perform a disjunctive rule-based task when information comes from different sensory modalities, rather than from the same modality. Quantitative model-based analyses suggested that the information integration deficit for across-modality stimulus dimensions was due to an increase in the use of hypothesis-testing strategies to solve the task and to an increase in random responding. The modeling also suggested that the across-modality advantage for disjunctive, rule-based category learning was due to a greater reliance on disjunctive hypothesis-testing strategies, as opposed to unidimensional hypothesis-testing strategies and random responding.     

Spirituality of Chronic Orofacial Pain Patients: Case–Control Study

The objective of this study was to investigate spirituality and blood parameters associated with stress in patients with facial musculoskeletal pain. Twenty-four women with chronic facial musculoskeletal pain (CFMP) and 24 healthy women were evaluated with a protocol for orofacial characteristics, research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders and the Spiritual Perspective Scale. Blood samples were collected to analyze blood count, cortisol, ACTH, C3, C4, thyroid hormones, total immunoglobulin, C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor. The study group was more spiritualized than control group. Individuals with a high score of spirituality had less myofascial pain, less bruxism and fewer complaints. They also had lower levels of ACTH and IgE. Spirituality was higher in the study group and can be considered an important tool for coping with CFMP.     

Adorno and Schelling on the art–nature relation

When it comes to the relationship between art and nature, research on Adorno’s aesthetics usually centres on his discussion of Kant and Hegel. While this reflects Adorno’s own position – his comprehension of this relationship is to a large extent developed through a critical re-reading of both the Kantian and the Hegelian position – I argue that we are able to gain important insights into Adorno’s aesthetics and the central art–nature relation by reading his ideas in the light of Schelling’s conception of this relationship. The article focuses on the similarities between Schelling’s notion of nature’s productivity and Adorno’s understanding of natural beauty. It concludes with a discussion on Adorno’s re-evaluation of the reconciliatory power of the exemplary unity of the artwork in conjunction with Schelling’s comparison between artwork and organism, as well as his concept of the construction of nature.