Chronic, early exposure to suicidal ideation in a parental figure: a pattern of presuicidal characteristics

This paper explores the possibility that chronic exposure in childhood to parental suicidal ideation and/or behavior places an individual at significant risk of suicide later in life. Two case studies that provide the basis for this formulation are presented. Possible mechanisms that may account for the development of this syndrome are explored. They include (1) the effects of a chronic sense of powerlessness and guilt; (2) imitation by the child of the parent's self-destructive attitudes and behavior; and (3) blocking of early identification with the other, nonsuicidal parent.     

White Picket Fences,White Innocence

Focusing on the cultural implications of the relationship between white segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond and his biracial daughter Essie Mae Washington‐Williams, this essay explores national narratives of whiteness, femininity, morality, and the institutionalization of sexual violence against black women.     

Does adolescent heavier alcohol use predict young adult aggression and delinquency? Parallel analyses from four Australasian cohort studies

While the association between heavy alcohol consumption and aggression has been well documented, the causal direction of this association, particularly at a population level, is disputed. A number of causal sequences have been proposed. First, that aggression leads to heavy alcohol use. Second, that heavy alcohol use leads to aggression. Third, that the association between alcohol use and aggression is due to confounding by (a) sociodemographic variables or (b) delinquency. We report here data from four Australasian prospective longitudinal studies of adolescents, to assess the temporal sequence of heavy drinking and aggression over the period from adolescence to young adulthood. The four cohort studies provide a total sample of 6,706 persons (Australian Temperament Project, n = 1701; Christchurch Health and Development Study, n = 931; Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy, n = 2437; Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study, n = 1637). We use multinomial logistic regression to determine whether early adolescent aggression predicts subsequent age of onset of heavy episodic drinking (HED), after adjustment for concurrent sociodemographic factors and delinquency. We then consider whether HED predicts subsequent aggression, after adjusting for past aggression, concurrent delinquency, and a range of confounders. There are broadly consistent findings across the four cohort studies. Early aggression strongly predicts subsequent HED. HED predicts later aggression after adjustment for prior aggression and other confounders. Policies that alter population levels of alcohol consumption are likely to impact on levels of aggression in societies where HED linked to aggression is more common.