The WHO/START Study: Promoting Suicide Prevention for a Diverse Range of Cultural Contexts

The WHO/Start Study is introduced and described in its four main components. The study originated as a response to growing concerns about trends of suicide, the prevalence of which in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization is the highest among the six regions of the WHO. So far, nineteen centers have joined the study. This ambitious project is expected to provide important transcultural perspectives on both fatal and nonfatal suicidal behaviors, together with increased awareness for these phenomena and the growth of culture‐sensitive prevention programs.     

Prior Health Care Utilization Patterns and Suicide Among U.S. Army Soldiers

Suicides among U.S. Army soldiers are increasing and, in January 2009, outpaced deaths due to combat. For this study, 1,873 army suicides identified through death, inpatient, and emergency room records were matched with 5,619 controls. In multivariate models, older, male, White, single, and enlisted soldiers with a prior injury (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.64‐2.54), alcohol (OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 2.32‐4.99), or mental health hospitalization (OR = 6.62, 95% CI = 4.77‐9.20) were at increased risk for suicide. Risk was greatest immediately following diagnoses, but remained elevated even after 5 or more years of follow‐up. Most injury hospitalizations were unintentional but, nonetheless, significantly associated with suicide. Interactions indicate soldiers with both mental health and injury history are particularly vulnerable.     

The Predictors of Suicidality in Previous Suicide Attempters following Case Management Services

Suicide attempts constitute a serious clinical problem. People who have attempted suicide are at an elevated risk for additional suicide attempts, but there is limited evidence regarding the predictors of suicidality of suicide attempters following case management services. In the present study the indicators of suicidality after case management were examined. A total of 1,056 subjects who had recently attempted suicide were recruited from January 1, 2011, to June 30, 2011. The suicide prevention center of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan provided case management services and followed up on suicide attempt cases for 6 months. The salient factors for repeat suicide attempts were estimated using a logistic regression analysis. The results showed that multiple factors, including a “willingness to receive mental health services during a crisis,” “social support,” “a history of mental disorders,” and “a history of suicide,” could predict repeat suicide attempts with hazard ratios (0.58, 0.54, 3.84, 1.51) and 95% confidence interval (0.39–0.86, 0.36–0.83, 2.41–6.10, 1.03–2.21). The four factors mentioned above were the most accurate predictors of subsequent suicidality when case management services were utilized after 6 months of follow‐up. The findings of our study could help clarify future strategies for suicide prevention.     

A Comparative Analysis of the Influence of Economic Culture on East and West German Consumers' Subjective Product Meanings

Les consommateurs des économies planifiées ont développé des savoir-faire différents de ceux adoptés par les consommateurs des économies de marché. Alors que les premiers ont appris à localiser les produits, les seconds se sont exercès à comparer et à choisir entre les produits proposés. Dans le domaine alimentaire, l' ancienne Allemagne de l' Est offrait une série de produits quantitativement suffisants mais peu variés et de qualityé médiocre ou moyenne. Les produits étaient vendus dans tout le pays a des prix imposés. Désormais, la variété et la diversité des qualityés est la měme qu'à l' Ouest et l' on constate des variations de prix considérables. On a étudié les différences entre les consommateurs de l' Est et de l' Ouest en comparant des échantillons de consommateurs de Kiel et de Rostock. On a analysé leur perception des produits alimentaires (du fromage et des plats surgelés) et comment ils les rattachaient à des valeurs (à partir d' une approche moyens-fins ). Les dimensions perceptives de base, qui émanent des caractéristiques concrètes des produits, sont les měmes partout, quoique la perception soit plus précise à l' Ouest qu'à l' Est. L' analyse des valeurs fondamentales de l' existence chez les consommateurs allemands de l' Est et de l' Ouest (gřce au Schwartz Value Inventory ) a montré que ceux de l' Est se portaient sur les valeurs collectives et ceux de l' Ouest sur les valeurs individuelles. L' analyse du lien que les consommateurs établissent entre les caractéristiques concrètes des produits et les valeurs fondamentales de la vie montra qu'il y avait de légères     

How Change Happens: Controlling Images,Mutuality, and Power

SUMMARY

Change is inevitable but it can go in a positive direction toward growth or in a negative direction. Extending Patricia Hill Collins' concept of controlling images (2000), we can see how these images interact with relational images and strategies of disconnection to obstruct growth on both the societal and the personal level. In therapy, change is defined as movement-in-relationship toward better connection; and increased connection leads to growth. Several aspects of therapy that lead to deeper and wider connection are explored, especially increasing the patient's power. Prior versions of parts of this article were presented at the Jean Baker Miller Summer Training Institutes in 2001 and 2002 and at the 2002 Learning from Women Conference sponsored by the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute and the Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

As therapists, we're “in the business” of change–change for the better. That's our goal. Another word for change for the better is growth. Change is the essence of life. It is most obvious in children but it is a necessity through all of life. Change will occur inevitably but it can go in a positive or a negative direction. Further, I believe change toward growth creates pleasure. We feel most alive and zestful when we are engaged in this expanding activity.     

Effects of directionality in deductive reasoning: II. Premise integration and conclusion evaluation

Previous research (Oberauer & Wilhelm, 2000) has shown an inherent directionality between the two terms linked in premises of typical deductive reasoning tasks. With three experiments we investigated the effect of inherent directionality on the time to integrate two premises and for the derivation of a conclusion. We varied figure (i.e., order of terms in the premises) and direction of inference (i.e., order of terms in the conclusion) in deduction tasks from various domains (propositional reasoning, syllogisms, spatial, temporal, and linear order reasoning). Effects of figure on premise reading times varied with the directionality of the relations. Effects of direction of inference reflected the same directionality for a subset of relations. We propose that two factors are jointly responsible for a large part of observed directionality effects in premise integration: the inherent directionality of relational statements and a general advantage for a given-new order of terms in the second premise. Difficulty of deriving a conclusion is affected by the directionality or relations if and only if the relation is semantically asymmetric, so that the directionality must be preserved in the integrated mental model.