Childhood trauma and suicidal behavior in male cocaine dependent patients.

A consecutive series of 100 male cocaine dependent patients were interviewed about suicidal behavior and completed the 34-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to determine whether childhood trauma is associated with suicidal behavior in cocaine dependent men. Patients who had attempted suicide (n = 34) reported significantly higher scores for childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect than patients who had never attempted suicide (n = 66). In this study, various childhood traumas were found to be significantly associated withsuicidal behavior among adult male cocaine dependent patients.     

Self and identity in social anxiety disorder

Models of social anxiety (SA) place the self as an organizing and causal center involved in the maintenance of this condition. An integrative conceptual framework for the understanding of the self is used to review the literature on the self in SA. Two main distinctions are emphasized: the self-as-a-subject (I-self) versus self-as-an-object (Me-self), and the evolutionary-based distinction of social rank versus affiliation. We argue that (a) although much progress has been made in understanding the association between SA and Me-self, the association between SA and I-self remains largely unexplored (with the important exception of anxiety-related processes in social situations); and (b) experiences and representations of the self in SA center on social rank. We suggest that in SA, social rank themes constitute the linchpins of identity, defined as the content and structure of the Me-self. We speculate that processes related to low social rank contribute to the focus on representational (Me), rather than experiential (I), self-aspects. Finally, we delineate the ways in which such an understanding may direct and refine the construction of novel, individually tailored, therapeutic approaches.     

The Latent Threat of Community Violence: Indirect Exposure to Local Homicides and Adolescents’ Mental Health in Colombia

This study examines the relation between adolescents’ indirect exposure to local homicides and mental health disorders and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. We employ a sample of 300 adolescents ( representative for Bogotá, Colombia, and geocoded data on violent crimes recorded by the national police. Findings show that one SD increment in local homicides is associated with increments by 0.17 SD in the mental health disorder index and a 0.14 SD increase in the PTSD score index, even after accounting for adolescents’ direct exposure to violence. The estimated effect for PTSD was larger for adolescents’ who were directly exposed to violence and for those living in multidimensionally poor households, whereas no detectable effects were found for adolescents who perceived their residential neighborhood as relatively safe.