Parent training for young Norwegian children with ODD and CD problems: Predictors and mediators of treatment outcome

Participants were 121 children, aged 4–8 years referred for conduct problems, and their mothers. A parent training intervention was implemented in two outpatient clinics in Norway. Treatment responders were defined as children scoring below a cut-off on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, a score below an optimal cut-off for children in day-care and school as reported by teachers, in addition to a 30% reduction or greater in observed negative parenting. Self-reported parenting practices were explored as potential mediators. The results of logistic regression analyses showed that high levels of maternal stress, clinical levels of ADHD, and being a girl predicted a poorer outcome in conduct problems at home, while pretreatment clinical levels of ADHD predicted a poorer outcome as perceived by the teachers. Harsh and inconsistent parental disciplining emerged as significant partial mediators of changes in conduct problems, highlighting the importance of altering parenting practices to modify young children's conduct problems.     

The Place of Suicide Prevention in the Spectrum of Intervention: Definitions of Critical Terms and Constructs

The authors trace the evolution of prevention models and conceptual foundations for the prevention of disorders starting with the public health/medical model and concluding with the contemporary model recently proposed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. They compare and contrast the contributions of each model toward the theoretical reduction of suicide in the general population. Risk and protective factors as they relate to suicidal behaviors are identified. The paper explores conceptual frameworks used to understand population-level risk factors and moves toward a discussion of how to target individuals at risk for suicidal behaviors. First-order and second-order targets of change in prevention efforts are defined and examples provided.     

Body Mass Index Is an Important Predictor for Suicide: Results from a Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Public health concerns for the independent management of obesity and suicidal behavior are rising. Emerging evidence suggests body weight plays an important role in quantifying the risk of suicide. In light of these findings, we aimed to clarify the association between body mass index (BMI) and suicidal behavior by systematically reviewing and evaluating the literature. Studies were identified by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL from inception to January 2015, supplemented by hand and grey literature searches. Study screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were conducted in duplicate. We included 38 observational studies. Meta‐analyses supported an inverse association between BMI and completed suicide. Pooled summary estimates demonstrated that underweight was significantly associated with an increased risk of completed suicide (HR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.36, p = .002), and obesity (HR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.89, p = .003) and overweight (HR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.82, p < .0001) were significantly associated with a decreased risk of completed suicide relative to normal weight. A qualitative summary of the literature demonstrated conflicting evidence regarding the association between BMI and attempted suicide and revealed no association between BMI and suicidal ideation. BMI may be used to aid the assessment of suicide risk, especially that of completed suicide. However, unmeasured confounders and systematic biases of individual studies limit the quality of evidence.     

Suicide Prevention Programs: Issues of Design,Implementation, Feasibility,and Developmental Appropriateness

Emerging models of prevention focus on population-level risk reduction through enumerating antecedent conditions that are linked to subsequent expressions of disorder and dysfunction. The authors discuss the essential ingredients for successful prevention programs-comprehensiveness, fidelity, and intensity. The authors describe how to mount prevention programs to increase feasibility, access, and effectiveness. Suicide is an epidemic of low frequency in the general population and therefore does not receive appropriate attention in public health prevention campaigns. They argue for nesting suicide prevention programs within existing public health preventive intervention programs and provide some examples of how to reduce vulnerabilities and risk conditions for subsequent suicidal behaviors.