Helping Callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Who Are at Imminent Risk of Suicide: The Importance of Active Engagement,Active Rescue,and Collaboration Between Crisis and Emergency Services

In 2012, the SAMHSA‐funded National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) completed implementation of the first national Policy for Helping Callers at Imminent Risk of Suicide across its network of crisis centers. The policy sought to: (1) provide a clear definition of imminent risk; (2) reflect the state of evidence, field experience, and promising practices related to reducing imminent risk through hotline interventions; and (3) provide a uniform policy and approach that could be applied across crisis center settings. The resulting policy established three essential principles: active engagement, active rescue, and collaboration between crisis and emergency services. A sample of the research and rationale that underpinned the development of this policy is provided here. In addition, policy implementation, challenges and successes, and implications for interventions to help Lifeline callers at imminent risk of suicide are detailed.     

When Good Things Feel Closer and Bad Things Feel Farther: The Role of Perceived Control on Psychological Distance Perception

Prior research has found that people perceive positive objects and locations as physically closer than negative ones. Yet, other work has found the opposite to be true for perceptions of temporal distance, where negative future events feel closer than positive ones. Motivated by this seeming discrepancy, we propose that (a) feelings of control can differentially influence how far away valenced (i.e., positive or negative) targets feel in space and time and that (b) the difference in perceived control over space versus time can account for these opposite findings. First, across four studies, we show that high (vs. low) control makes positive targets feel closer and negative targets feel more distant in both physical space (Studies 1 and 1a) and time (Studies 2 and 2a). Then, in Studies 3 and 4, we simultaneously examine perceptions of spatial and temporal distance and show that baseline differences in perceived control between these domains can explain the prior discrepant findings. Finally, a within‐paper meta‐analysis offers further support to these findings.     

Exploring the Factors That Influence Zoo Visitors’ Perceptions of the Well-Being of Gorillas: Implications for Zoo Exhibit Interpretation

Modern zoos face increasing pressures to maintain and demonstrate both the physical and psychological well-being of animals in their care. However, the informal judgments that zoo visitors make about animal well-being may be based on criteria that are inappropriate or misleading. In this research, two self-administered questionnaires were used to explore the indicators that zoo visitors use, consciously or unconsciously, to judge the well-being of gorillas in a naturalistic zoo exhibit. One questionnaire was completed by 105 adult visitors as they exited a gorilla exhibit; another questionnaire was completed by a separate sample of 166 adult visitors while they were observing the gorillas in the exhibit. The results demonstrate that visitors are willing to make judgments of animal welfare, are able to articulate the reasons underlying their judgments, use different indicators when judging health and happiness, and are influenced by environmental aspects of the exhibit. Visitors’ assessments of animal well-being were positively related to their emotional connections with the gorillas and their satisfaction with the visit. Suggestions are provided regarding interpretive information that zoos might provide to better inform visitors’ perceptions of animal well-being.     

Community reintegrating former child soldiers in Northern Uganda: A qualitative study on the road to recovery

This study aimed to profile the qualities of a holistic community reintegration program for former child soldiers (FCS) in the Lira region of Northern Uganda. Informants were a convenience sample of 37 FCS (age range 17 to 34, mean age 23.86, SD = 4.715 years; females = 29.73%). FCS completed semi-structured interviews on their current living situations and existing resources. This was aimed at assessing how they were transitioning back into the community and identifying gaps in resources. About 24% of FCS reported feeling unwelcome in their communities, suggesting a need for additional support and resources through the community integration models. Thematic analysis of the data suggests that the FCS would benefit from a holistic community reintegration program with the following qualities: psychosocial support, workforce development training, and job placement. FCS emphasised the need for skills training and employment opportunities over health and wellness; suggesting that mental health support and health care are not sufficient alone for them to successfully reintegrate into the community. FCS community integration policies and practices should prioritise holistic approaches.     

Test Review: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)

Objective: Evaluate neuropsychological functioning in children with non-syndromic cleft of the lip and/or palate (NSCL/P) through profile variance within type of cleft and comparisons to controls.

Methods: Children ages 7 to 17 years participated; 66 had a diagnosis of NSCL/P and 87 were healthy controls. Neuropsychological tests of language, visual-perceptual, executive functioning, and memory skills were administered. Between- and within-group differences were assessed.

Results: Within cleft types, children with NSCLP had an even profile with equal Verbal and Performance IQ (VIQ and PIQ, respectively). Children with non-syndromic cleft palate only (NSCP) had significantly lower VIQ than PIQ, while children with non-syndromic cleft lip only (NSCL) showed a nonsignificant trend for higher VIQ than PIQ. Overall, subjects with NSCL/P performed lower on measures of expressive language and verbal memory than controls.

Conclusions: While deficits in verbal and memory skills for children with NSCL/P remain apparent, there is still uncertainty around the possible influence of cleft type on the pattern of deficits.     

Religion,the Russian Nation and the State: Domestic and International Dimensions: an Introduction

Letters from Moscow: Religion and Human Rights in the USSR fay Father Gleb Yakunin and Lev Regelson, edited by Jane Ellis, co‐published by Keston College, Keston, Kent and H. S. Dakin Company, San Francisco, 1978, vi + 148 pp., £2.25.

Nous Chrétiens de Pologne by Adam Boniecki et al., Editions Cana, Paris, 1979, 167 pp. No price.     

Effects of repeated collaborative retrieval on individual memory vary as a function of recall versus recognition tasks

Our research examines how prior group collaboration modulates later individual memory. We recently showed that repeated collaborative recall sessions benefit later individual recall more than a single collaborative recall session (Blumen & Rajaram, 2008). Current research compared the effects of repeated collaborative recall and repeated collaborative recognition on later individual recall and later individual recognition. A total of 192 participants studied a list of nouns and then completed three successive retrieval sessions in one of four conditions. While two collaborative recall sessions and two collaborative recognition sessions generated comparable levels of individual recall (CRecall-CRecall-I Recall ～ CRecognition-CRecognition-I Recall , Experiment 1a), two collaborative recognition sessions generated greater levels of individual recognition than two collaborative recall sessions (CRecognition-CRecognition- IRecognition > CRecall-CRecall- I Recognition , Experiment 1b). These findings are discussed in terms of two opposing mechanisms that operate during collaborative retrieval—re-exposure and retrieval disruption—and in terms of transfer-appropriate processing across collaborative and individual retrieval sessions.