Suicide ideation: its relation to depression, suicide and suicide attempt

A random sample of 3,935 adults from a general population were interviewed and asked to report how often they had thoughts of suicide as well as their opinion on the frequency of suicide ideation in others. Depression was found to be related to the respondent's reports of his/her own suicidal thoughts and to reports of frequent suicide ideation in others. A total of 5.4 percent of the respondents reported some degree of suicide ideation in the previous month and 9.1 percent reported that others think about suicide once a month or more. When the demographic characteristics of those who report suicide ideation in themselves or others were compared to those of suicide attempters and committers, some consistencies were found, suggesting that such questions may be useful in identifying those "at risk." Nevertheless, sufficient discrepancies were found which suggest that there may be a number of factors which increase or decrease the likelihood that someone with thoughts of suicide will attempt or commit suicide. Follow-up studies are necessary to uncover such factors and the degrees to which they influence the occurrence of suicide.     

Effects of Trauma of the Gulf War on Kuwaiti Children

We investigated the effects of the Gulf War on two groups of Kuwaiti children and youth. Those children experiencing war-related traumatic events and those who did not experience or witness a war-related traumatic event participated. Data were obtained from the mother of each child. Each mother completed a structured interview which included Child Traumatic Reaction Index, developed according to the DSM-IV (1994) criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The data indicated a significant interaction effect observed by mothers according to the child's gender, experience of war traumatic events, and PTSD. The results are discussed in terms of the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, the necessity of early identification, and the difficulty associated with the diagnosing PTSD in children.     

Money and subjective well-being: it's not the money, it's the motives.

Past researchers have argued that the relative importance a person attaches to money is negatively related to subjective well-being (SWB). However, the past research suffers from the theoretical problem of not including the diferent motives for making money. With a sample of 240 business students, the authors developed a set of scales to measure motives for making money. They used a sample of 492 business students to confirm the factor structure of these motives. With another sample of 266 business students, the authors found that the negative relationship between money importance and SWB was due to the two variables being the result of a common cause; namely, the motives of social comparison. seeking power, showing off, and overcoming self-doubt. This finding was replicated with a sample of 145 entrepreneurs.     

The World Is a Necessary Being

Philosophia - A standard conception of metaphysical modality accepts that (i) Some de re modal claims are true, (ii) These should be understood in terms of a possible worlds semantics, and (iii)...     

“Pleasure and Joy in the Work”: Using Simone Weil in the Classroom

Richard Rorty once wrote that inspired teaching “is the result of an encounter with an author, character, plot, stanza, line or archaic torso which has made a difference to the [teacher’s] conception of who she is, what she is good for, what she wants to do with herself: an encounter which has rearranged her priorities and purposes.” In a teaching career more than three decades long, no author has influenced me more profoundly as a teacher and as a human being than Simone Weil. She has changed how I think about myself, my relationships, the world around me and ultimately about what transcends me. And this could not help but change how I am in the classroom. This essay is a reflection on how Simone Weil has changed my life, both in and out of the classroom.     

A social systems perspective of adolescent pregnancy: Determinants of parent and parent-child behavior

Social systems theory was used as a framework for examining the relationships among demographic characteristics (age, education level, marital status, social class, income), intrapersonal beliefs (self-esteem, locus-of-control, and parent attitudes), social support, and pregnancy, birth-related, and postpartum outcomes. The subjects were 21 teenage mothers who participated in a model-demonstration program designed to provide and mediate support that would decrease stress and foster positive functioning during and after their pregnancies. The findings showed that social support, social class, and locus-of-control were related significantly to the subjects' personal well-being and family climate during the course of their pregnancies. Education level, social class, and social support significantly predicted both birth-related and postpartum outcomes. Participation in the demonstration project had positive influences on self-esteem, locus-of-control, and caregiver styles of interaction. The results are discussed in terms of the need for a broader-based, social systems perspective of the factors that influence positive outcomes among pregnant teenagers.     

The Relation of Cognitive Ability and Personality Traits to Assessment Center Performance

The aim of the current study was to examine cognitive ability and personality correlates of assessment center exercise ratings. The sample included 429 individuals who participated in a 2-day management development assessment center during a 5-year period. The assessment center yielded scores on 8 exercises. Assessees also completed a measure of cognitive ability (Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal) and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). The CPI scales were incorporated into 4 of the Big Five personality factors for easier interpretation. Our hypotheses were partially supported since ratings of exercises that were largely interpersonal in nature tended to correlate with interpersonal personality constructs (emotional stability, extraversion, and openness to experience), and ratings of cognitive problem-solving exercises correlated with cognitive ability and conscientiousness.     

Priors and payoffs in confidence judgments

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Priors and payoffs are known to affect perceptual decision-making, but little is understood about how they influence confidence judgments. For optimal...