MEETING CALENDAR

Abstract

Stress, coping, and appraisal were explored in order to better understand the factors associated with smoking cessation. Employees from 61 worksites received one of three programs which incorporated the use of self-help manuals, incentives, social support groups, and cognitive-behavioral techniques. Results indicated successful quitters perceived less stress in their lives, used more problem-focused coping and less emotion-focused coping, and perceived more control over their stressors than participants who were not able to quit smoking.     

The Impact of Childhood Physical Abuse and Age of Sexual Initiation on Women's Maladaptive Posttraumatic Cognitions

Child abuse survivors often exhibit long-standing maladaptive beliefs. Sexual risk-taking could contribute to the maintenance of such beliefs by reinforcing cognitions that originally resulted from child abuse. In this study, 64 community women, most with elevated posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, completed measures of childhood abuse, sexual risk-taking, and posttraumatic cognitions. Age of first consensual sexual intercourse mediated the relationship between childhood physical abuse and maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions in adulthood. Thus, age of sexual intercourse initiation might play an important role in women's recovery from childhood physical abuse. Clinicians should consider the possible impact of women's sexual history when challenging their cognitions during trauma-based cognitive behavioral therapy. Further, decreasing risky sexual behavior might partially protect against the negative effects of trauma.     

Prologue: Introduction and Overview to Special Volume

Abstract

The editors provide an overview of the obstacles that prevent us from ending child abuse in the United States and briefly summarize the various articles in this volume that address these obstacles from multiple points of view.     

School shooting fatalities and school corporal punishment: A look at the states

Student deaths from school shootings were examined across all 50 states according to the state’s policy on the use of corporal punishment in schools after controlling for associated differences in poverty rates and the prevalence of conservative Christian religions. There were significantly more school shooting deaths found in states allowing school corporal punishment compared with those that do not. The odds of fatal involvement in a school shooting were greatest in states permitting school corporal punishment compared with those prohibiting it (odds ratio, 2.04) or restricting it to districts serving less than half the student population (odds ratio, 1.77). Moreover, the rate of school corporal punishment was moderately correlated with the rate of fatal school shootings both across all states and within the South, the region in which endorsement of school corporal punishment is most prevalent.Aggr. Behav. 28:173–183, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Epistemic Injustice The Third Way?

In response to Miranda Fricker's advocacy of a virtue of 'reflexive critical openness', I emphasise the importance of other virtues, such as loyalty, in evaluating an agent's response to testimony, and I query Fricker's claim that in certain circumstances agents can lack a means to correct their faulty evaluations of another's testimony     

Is IQ in Childhood Associated with Suicidal Thoughts and Attempts? Findings from The Mater University Study of Pregnancy and Its Outcomes

This study explores associations of IQ at age 14 with adult symptoms of suicidal thoughts and attempts at age 21. Analysis was based on the Mater University Study of Pregnancy and its outcomes, an Australian prospective birth cohort study started in Brisbane Australia in 1981. We assessed associations with suicide thoughts, plans, and attempts. We used two measures of IQ: the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices and the Wide Range Achievement Test. In multivariable analyses, there was an inverse association between Raven's IQ and suicide thoughts, plans, and attempts, but no strong evidence of an association between the WRAT3 and the three suicidal items. Specific aspects of intelligence may be associated with suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts.     

Distinguishing Between Subgroups of Adolescents Who Self‐Harm

The differences in factors associated with subgroups of adolescents in the continuum of deliberate self‐harm (DSH) phenomena were investigated. In an anonymous self‐report survey of 6,020 adolescents aged 15 and 16 years, 3.2% of adolescents (5.3% females, 1.3% males) reported DSH with intent to die, 2.8% (4.3% females; 1.5% males) reported DSH without intent to die, and 15% (22.4% females; 8.5% males) reported thoughts of DSH without acts. Regression analysis indicated considerable overlap in vulnerability factors along the spectrum of DSH thoughts and acts. A uniquely distinct relationship was found between DSH of a friend and DSH without intent to die on one hand and DSH of a family member with DSH with intent to die on the other. Results indicate that familial and nonfamilial social influences on DSH behavior may be important in designing prevention programs and that educational programs for the promotion of psychological well‐being may be helpful for adolescents at any point along the spectrum of DSH that was examined.     

The Interrelations of Agency,Depression, and Suicidal Ideation Among Older Adults

The high rates of suicide among older men are cause for concern, and have prompted the investigation of factors that might explain these elevated rates. The current research examined whether the gender role construct agency was associated with depression and suicidal ideation among older adults. The results, based on self‐report data from a sample of older Australian men (n = 69) and women (n = 90), indicated that depression mediated the relation between agency and suicidal ideation. In addition, for older men only, agency moderated the depression‐suicidal ideation relation. The results suggest that older adults, and particularly men, with low levels of agency should be the targets for interventions aimed at increasing levels of agency and improving mental health.