Assessing the Adherence to Guidelines of Media Reporting of Suicide Using a Novel Instrument—the “Risk of Imitative Suicide Scale” (RISc)

Media guidelines for reporting of suicide are considered important in suicide prevention because of the risk of “imitative” suicide. There are currently no established tools for the quantification of quality of reporting. We sought to develop and validate a quality assessment instrument—the Risk of Imitative Suicide Scale (RISc). The RISc appears capable of discriminating reliably between adherent and nonadherent articles. Our data suggest that adherence to guidelines is inconsistent, and there are major differences between web‐based and print media. The RISc could be used to evaluate effectiveness and consistency of media engagement with suicide prevention strategies.     

Screening for Suicidal Ideation and Attempts among Emergency Department Medical Patients: Instrument and Results from the Psychiatric Emergency Research Collaboration

Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal 15 calls for organizations “to identify patients at risk for suicide.” Overt suicidal behavior accounts for 0.6% of emergency department (ED) visits, but incidental suicidal ideation is found in 3%–11.6%. This is the first multicenter study of suicide screening in EDs. Of 2,243 patients in six diverse emergency settings, 1,068 (47.7%) were screened with a brief instrument. Depression was endorsed by 369 (34.5%); passive suicidal ideation by 79 (7.3%); and active suicidal ideation by 24 (2.3%). One hundred thirty‐seven (12.8%) reported prior attempts, including 35 (3.3%) with current suicidal ideation. Almost half of those with current ideation had a prior attempt (43.8%) versus those without current ideation, 10.3%, χ² (1) = 75.59, p < .001. Twenty cases (25%) were admitted to medical services, but only 10 (12.5%) received mental health assessment; none were admitted directly to a psychiatry service. The prevalence of suicidal ideation here is similar to previous studies but the frequency of prior attempts has not been reported. The 35 cases with current ideation and prior attempt are at risk. As they did not present psychiatrically, they would likely have gone undetected. Despite reporting these cases to clinical staff, few received risk assessment.     

The Temporal Association Between Self‐Injurious Thoughts and Psychotic Symptoms: A Mobile Phone Assessment Study

The relationship between psychotic symptoms and self‐injurious thoughts (SITs) remains unclear. The short‐term temporal associations between psychotic symptoms and SITs were explored. A sample of 36 people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder or at‐risk mental state completed mobile phone‐based measures at multiple times each day for 1 week. Clustered regression with time‐lagged variables supported a relationship between paranoia and subsequent SITs. Hallucinations did not predict these thoughts when controlling for paranoia. The role of specific psychotic symptoms in triggering SITs is highlighted and the importance of considering these factors in risk management is discussed.     

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.     

Threat perception distortions and psychopathological symptoms in typically developing children

This study examined relationships between symptoms of anxiety, aggression, and depression, on the one hand, and threat perception distortions, on the other hand. A large sample of typically developing children aged 8–12 years (N=157) were interviewed with an instrument for assessing the main types of childhood psychopathology, and were then exposed to a series of ambiguous vignettes in order to measure threat perception. As all measures were obtained twice, some 8 weeks apart, it was also possible to study prospective relationships between threat perception distortions and psychopathological symptoms. Results showed that threat perception was associated with a broad range of psychopathological symptoms, although the connection with anxiety was the most robust. No support was found for the notion that threat perception scores were predictive for the persistence of psychopathological symptoms during the 8‐weeks period. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.