Using the Theory of Gender and Power to Examine Experiences of Partner Violence,Sexual Negotiation,and Risk of HIV/AIDS Among Economically Disadvantaged Women in Southern India

This article uses the Theory of Gender and Power to examine women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in order to: understand the vulnerability of female sex workers/poor women due to poverty and lack of educational resources; explore women's vulnerability in the context of client/partner violence, alcohol use, male partner's high-risk behaviors, and women's lack of control in their intimate relationships; and explore the role of traditional heterosexual gender norms in the outcomes of sexual negotiation. Ethnographic data were collected from 32 women and 38 men in India as part of an ongoing National Institute of Mental Health study. Results highlighted women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS stemming from partner violence, alcohol use, poverty, dangers of sex work environments, and tacit acceptance of cultural/gender norms.     

Psychoanalyse mit Traumatisierten

Extreme and complex traumatisation represents a severe problem in today’s world. There is a need to develop treatment approaches that are efficient for traumatised persons who often live under very difficult circumstances. There are moreover certain societal conditions that are important for the treatment and rehabilitation of the traumatised patient. The paper will discuss how psychoanalytic therapy may be helpful for severely traumatised patients and what are the mechanisms of change in the therapeutic process. A focus is on how traumatic experiences are actualised in the transference and brings the analyst in a situation where enactments inevitably occur. It will be demonstrated how these processes may lead to symbolisation of these traumatic experiences. What are the therapeutic and societal preconditions for treating traumatised patients?     

Beyond Randomized Controlled Trials in Attempted Suicide Research

There is a lack of evidence about what is the best treatment for people who present to hospital after self harm. Most treatment trials have been small and involved unrepresentative groups of patients which result in inconclusive findings. Here we note some of the characteristics of attempted suicide which make it a difficult subject to study. We describe the problems of doing randomized controlled trials in attempted suicide and outline the advantages and difficulties of randomized controlled trials, Zelen designs, patient preference designs, and cluster randomized trials in attempted suicide intervention trials. Researchers and consumers should consider other research designs when asking what is effective after self harm.     

Risk for Suicide among Medicaid Beneficiaries

Demographic, diagnostic, and service expenditure characteristics of Florida Medicaid enrollees who died by suicide were investigated. Among persons receiving Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), findings indicate the most powerful predictors of suicide were involuntary psychiatric examination, mental health hospitalization, and high mental health service use. Among Medicaid enrollees not receiving SSI, strongest suicide predictors were mental health hospitalization, high expenditures for physical health medications, and involuntary psychiatric examination. Findings suggest reducing involuntary psychiatric examinations and mental health hospitalizations while improving physical health may reduce suicide in the Medicaid population. Comprehensive hospital discharge planning, adherence monitoring with follow‐up care, training mental health providers in assessing suicide lethality, and providing adequate assessment time are all crucial to achieve these objectives.     

A Call for Research: The Need to Better Understand the Impact of Support Groups for Suicide Survivors

Support groups for suicide survivors (those individuals bereaved following a suicide) are widely used, but little research evidence is available to determine their efficacy. This paper outlines the pressing public health need to conduct research and determine effective ways to identify and meet the needs of suicide survivors, particularly through survivor support groups. After describing the various approaches to survivor support groups, we explain the need for further research, despite the inherent challenges. Finally, we pose several questions for researchers to consider as they work with survivors to develop a research agenda that sheds more light on the experiences of survivors and the help provided by survivor support groups.     

Development of a Chinese Version of the Suicide Intent Scale

This study established the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) in a clinic‐ and community‐based sample of 36 patients and 592 respondents, respectively. Results showed that the Chinese SIS demonstrated good inter‐rater and test‐retest reliability. Factor analysis generated three factors (Precautions, Planning, and Seriousness) explaining 92.9% of the total variance with high internal consistency. It was moderately correlated with depressive symptoms. Results suggest that the Chinese SIS is a reliable and valid instrument for use in assessing the extent of suicidal intention among subjects with deliberate self‐harm in ethnic Chinese populations.     

Predictors of Multiple Suicide Attempts among Suicidal Black Adolescents

Psychopathology, social support, and interpersonal orientation were studied in relation to suicide attempt status in acutely suicidal, psychiatrically hospitalized Black adolescents and a matched sample of White adolescents. In the total sample, multiple attempters were differentiated by lower perceived support. Within the Black youth subsample, social comparison and positive stimulation from others differentiated multiple attempters from single attempters/ideators. Only suicidal ideation predicted multiple attempts among White youth and only higher interpersonal orientation predicted multiple suicide attempts within Black adolescents.     

Suicidality in a Sample of Arctic Households

We investigated the association of suicidal ideation and behavior with depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse in a Canadian Arctic Inuit community. Inuit (N = 111) from a random sample of households completed assessments of anxiety and depression, alcohol abuse, and suicidality. High rates of suicidal ideation within the past week (43.6%), and suicide attempts within last 6 months (30%), were reported. Ideation was more frequent among younger persons, whereas those favoring local native language were less likely to report a wish to die. Higher overall suicidality scores were associated with higher anxiety, and alcohol abuse, but not with depression or gender. Implications for future research are discussed.