Psychiatric Hospital Treatment of Suicidal Children

ABSTRACT: Three phases of psychiatric hospital treatment of children, ages 6 to 12 years, admitted to the hospital because of suicidal threats or suicidal attempts are described. Suicidal behavior in young children must always be taken seriously. Although suicidal behavior usually ceases upon hospitalization, suicidal ideas may continue to be expressed in play and fantasy. In addition to individual and milieu therapy, treatment must also include concomitant assistance of the parents. The treatment procedures are illustrated by suicidal case examples of a depressed girl, an acting-out boy, and a psychotic boy.     

Philosophy of Education in a Poor Historical Moment: A Personal Account

Under the post-metaphysical sky “old” humanistic-oriented education is possible solely at the cost of its transformation into its negative, into a power that is determined to diminish human potentials for self-exaltation. Nothing less than total metamorphosis is needed to rescue the core of humanistic genesis: the quest for edifying Life and resistance to the call for “home-returning” into the total harmony that is promised to us within nothingness.     

Interpersonal Psychotherapy—Adolescent Skills Training With Youth From Asian American and Immigrant Families: Cultural Considerations and Intervention Process

Although research has identified effective evidence-based depression prevention interventions for diverse youth, little is known about how the intervention process unfolds with immigrant family youth. This study utilized a qualitative approach to explore cultural and clinical differences in the implementation of Interpersonal Psychotherapy–Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST) in two schools, one serving youth from primarily immigrant, Asian American families and the second, youth from mostly nonimmigrant, non-Hispanic White families. A total of 131 IPT–AST sessions were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded for presence and patterns of cultural and clinical constructs. Results revealed that sessions with immigrant family youth were more likely to contain discussions of interpersonal problems characterized by estrangement, goals of spending time together with important others, mentions of emotion suppression and academic achievement expectations, conversations about acculturation, differences in value orientation, and discomfort with implementing new intervention skills. Dialogue from interventionist and youth exchanges is presented to illustrate how these themes emerged and were addressed by interventionists in a culturally responsive manner. The study highlights how IPT–AST with immigrant family and Asian American youth may unfold differently compared to youth from nonimmigrant families. Implications of findings for providers are discussed.     

Predictors to Happiness in Primary Students: Positive Relationships or Academic Achievement

This study aimed to examine the role of positive relationships and academic achievement in predicting student well-being, i.e. subjective happiness. This study employed a longitudinal design with two waves of data collection on a sample of 786 primary school students in Hong Kong. Students completed questionnaires on parent-child relationship, teacher-student relationship, peer relationship, academic achievement, and happiness at the beginning and end of the school year. Path analysis was used for data analysis. The results indicated that Time 1 parent-child relationship and peer relationship were associated with Time 2 academic achievement, after controlling for Time 1 academic achievement. However, only Time 1 parent-child relationship was predictive of Time 2 happiness. Time 2 academic achievement was a mediator between Time 1 parent-child relationship and peer relationship and Time 2 happiness. Furthermore, girls reported higher levels of academic achievement when they perceived better peer relationship than did boys, and girls were happier when they had higher levels of academic achievement than were boys. The results suggested the need to put in place strategies to enhance parent-child relationship, peer relationship, and a harmonious classroom.

     

The Role of Children's Neurophysiological Functioning in the Links Between Emotion-Parenting Behaviors and Child Anxiety Symptoms: A Biological Sensitivity to Context Framework

A plethora of data supports links between parenting behaviors and child anxiety, but few studies have examined factors that can contribute to variability in these relations. Adopting a biological sensitivity to context framework, this study explored the role of children's physiological stress reactivity in the links between emotion-parenting and child anxiety symptoms in a group of Chinese families. Sixty-one parent–child dyads (child M_age = 8.21 years, SD = 1.40, range = 6–12 years) participated in an acute stress protocol, from which children's physiological (cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia) responses to a social speech task were recorded. Participants then completed questionnaires assessing parents’ emotion-parenting behaviors and children's anxiety symptoms. Results showed that the relation between supportive emotion-parenting and child anxiety was stronger in the context of greater child RSA suppression to acute stress, such that children higher in RSA suppression exhibited lower anxiety symptoms when supportive emotion-parenting was higher than when it was lower. Thus, these findings supported the biological sensitivity to context model. No significant moderation effect was detected for cortisol reactivity or recovery. Instead, exploratory mediation analyses showed that supportive emotion-parenting was negatively related to child anxiety via greater cortisol recovery. There was also a significant indirect path where unsupportive emotion-parenting was related to blunted cortisol recovery, which in turn was associated with higher child anxiety. The results highlight the importance of coaching parents to respond in supportive ways to children's emotional expressions, particularly in the context of greater child reactivity, to help buffer against childhood anxiety symptoms.