In Honor of My Father and My Son

The author advises survivors on the four tasks of grief and reflects on the suicide of her college-age son in 1977 and the recent death of her father, a suicidologist, from age-related causes. She describes current collaborative efforts by organizations dedicated to the prevention and aftermath of suicide.     

Interaction of Combat Exposure and Unit Cohesion in Predicting Suicide‐Related Ideation Among Post‐Deployment Soldiers

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among U.S. Army soldiers. Suicide‐related ideation, which is associated with suicide attempts and suicide, can cause considerable distress. In a sample of 1,663 recently redeployed soldiers, we used factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the associations between combat exposure, unit cohesion, and their interaction in predicting suicide‐related ideation. We found that combat exposure was a significant risk factor for suicide‐related ideation, while unit cohesion was a significant protective factor. The significant interaction between the two factors indicated that soldiers who experienced greater combat exposure but also had higher levels of unit cohesion had relatively lower levels of suicide‐related ideation. In addition, those who had higher levels of combat exposure and lower unit cohesion were most at risk for suicide‐related ideation. Our findings indicate the importance of unit cohesion in protecting soldiers from suicide‐related ideation and suggest a higher risk group of soldiers who should be targeted for interventions.     

Response-time dynamics: Evidence for linear and low-dimensional nonlinear structure in human choice sequences

Response time (RT) is a commonly used measure of cognitive performance, which is usually characterized as stochastic. However, useful information may be hidden in the apparently random fluctuations of RT. Dynamical systems analysis techniques allow an exploration of the alternative hypothesis that RT fluctuations are deterministic, albeit in a complex manner. We applied careful task construction and noise-reduction and surrogate series tests to show that RT series from a forced-pace serial response-time task have low-dimensional chaotic characteristics. In Experiment 1, 80% of subjects' filtered RT series had low dimensionality, sensitive dependence on initial conditions, spectra close to 1/ f , and stable attractor geometry across sessions. In Experiment 2, we showed that the size of the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) determined the number of subjects with low-dimensional chaotic series. A small ISI caused 100% of subjects to respond in the chaotic regime, whereas only 25% had a low-dimensional chaotic RT component when the ISI was large. We argue that demanding task requirements cause a reduction in the dimensionality of the dynamics, producing RT fluctuations that may reflect a response strategy for controlling RT.     

Autism and the double empathy problem: Implications for development and mental health

This article proposes a link between autistic people being misperceived by the neurotypical majority and their being at risk of poor mental health and well-being. We present a transactional account of development in which the misperceptions (and consequent behaviour) of the neurotypical majority influences the perceptions and behaviour of autistic people such that they become increasingly separate and indeed isolated from mainstream society. This jeopardizes their mental health and prevents autistic people from developing to full potential. The situation is not only problematical for the development of autistic people but is also to the detriment of wider society, in so far as autistic people are effectively prevented from contributing fully. This account assumes that some (not necessarily all) autistic people yearn to be included, to be productive and to be useful. It thus directly opposes accounts that view autism as an extreme case of diminished social motivation.     

The Role of Anxiety in Seeking and Retaining Risk Information: Testing the Risk Perception Attitude Framework in Two Studies

Despite the importance of health information seeking, not all people engage in such behaviors, especially when thinking about the disease is distressing. The focus of this paper is to examine the antecedents of information seeking and retention. Based on individuals’ risk perception and efficacy beliefs, the risk perception attitude framework is used to formulate four groups: responsive (high risk, high efficacy), avoidance (high risk, low efficacy), proactive (low risk, high efficacy), and indifference (low risk, low efficacy). In Study 1, a 2 (risk) × 2 (efficacy) between‐subjects experiment, participants’ perceived risk to skin cancer and skin cancer–related efficacy beliefs were induced to determine their information seeking, retention, and intentions to engage in future seeking. The responsive group, as predicted, was associated with the most information‐seeking behaviors and information‐seeking intentions. The avoidance group, however, sought information but exhibited the lowest retention scores. These results were used to derive two predictions—the incredulity hypothesis and the anxiety‐reduction hypothesis—that were then tested in Study 2. Study 2, also a 2 (risk) × 2 (efficacy) between‐subjects experiment dealing with diabetes, found support for the anxiety‐reduction hypothesis, which argues that the high‐risk, low‐efficacy group experiences more anxiety, which leads to high motivations to seek, but lower ability to retain information.