Development of a tool to assess suicide risk factors in urban adolescents

Dramatic increases in the adolescent suicide rate over the past three decades have underscored the need for risk-assessment tools. The tools that do exist are oriented to older populations and their application to adolescents is questionable. A project was initiated at the University of Utah's Health Education Department to develop a pilot instrument to examine the differences between adolescents who have attempted suicide and other teenagers. Eighty-two subjects between the ages of 14 and 19 participated in the test of this instrument. Twenty-five subjects were identified by a physician or psychologist as having failed in a sincere suicide attempt within the previous 18 months. Fifty-seven nonsuicide attempters with similar demographic profiles served as a comparison group. An 86-item questionnaire was administered to both groups. Questions were generated from a review of the literature of the past three decades for problems associated with suicide in this population. Questions were sorted into three domains (family environment, social environment, and self-perceptions), with each domain having several subdomains. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences for each of the three domains and on 55 of 86 questions. The results were used to create a streamlined instrument for assessing suicide risk that can be administered in 20 minutes.     

Integrating the Relational Matrix: Attachment Style,Differentiation of Self,Triangulation, and Experiential Avoidance

In light of the recent call for greater efforts toward integration in psychotherapy theory, research, and practice (Gaete and Gaete in J Psychother Integr 25(2):158–174, 2015; Ziv-Beiman in J Psychother Integr 24(3):251–257, 2014), this study aimed to evaluate the relationships among attachment style, differentiation of self (DoS), triangulation, and experiential avoidance in an integrated model. Although attachment theory (Bowlby in Attachment and loss. Attachment, vol 1. Basic Books, New York, 1969; Cassidy and Shaver in Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications, 3rd edn. Guilford Press, New York, 2010) typically views relationships in terms of dyads, Bowen theory and other systemic theories focus on human relationships in terms of triangles, indicating that attachment theory may be overlooking the role of a second parent in psychological well-being. Furthermore, links between attachment theory and DoS (Kerr and Bowen in Family evaluation. W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 1988) may be characterized by the avoidance of painful private experience, termed experiential avoidance. A sample of 167 U.S. students enrolled at an urban Midwestern University filled out electronic surveys containing a demographic questionnaire and the Differentiation of Self Inventory-Short Form, the Triangular Relationship Inventory, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire—II (AAQ-II). We found that experiential avoidance partially mediated the relationships between avoidant attachment and emotional cut-off, as well as between anxious attachment and I-position. In addition, both anxious and avoidant attachment were associated with higher levels of triangulation and fully mediated the relationship between triangulation and DoS, suggesting that dyadic relationship patterns originate in triadic family processes and eventually effect DoS. Overall, these results connect the dyadic parent–child relationship, the central construct of attachment theory, to the triadic field of Bowen and other systemic theories.     

Lifelong estrogen exposure and cognitive performance in elderly women

Fluctuating endogenous and exogenous estrogens influence cognition in women. In this study, cognitive functioning in elderly women was examined by applying methodology used in understanding the effects of chronic estrogen exposure on hormone-sensitive tissue other than the brain. An index, combining menstrual, reproductive, and physical markers associated with estrogen levels, was developed for elderly, nondemented, predominantly Caucasian women (n = 87). This index related to better performance on two verbal factors, one attentional and one global in nature. Findings suggest that estrogen exposure across the life span plays a role in brain aging. Possible physiological mechanisms for this effect are discussed.     

A parallel-processing model for scanning

A parallel-processing model for scanning is proposed wherein all items in the display set are processed together but with different time constants. The time constant for each item depends upon its serial position and is an additive combination of primacy and recency effects. The primacy effect is linear, and the recency effect is logarithmic. Scanning can either be exhaustive or self-terminating, and “multiple looks” may occur with negative probes. It is shown that this model predicts a linear relationship between reaction time and set size, parallel or 2∶1 slope ratios depending upon the proportion of multiple looks, and serial position effects if the scanning is self-terminating.     

The effect of a subsidiary task on iconic memory

Memory & Cognition - Using a subsidiary task technique, Doest and Turvey (1971) concluded that iconic memory was independent of the central processing system. However, they did not control the...     

Issues with the SIMPLE model: comment on Brown, Neath, and Chater (2007)

SIMPLE (G. D. A. Brown, I. Neath, & N. Chater, 2007) attempts to explain data from serial recall and free recall in the same theoretical framework. While it can fit the free-recall serial-position curves that are the cornerstone of the 2-store buffer model, it does not address 2 classic issues in short-term memory research: similarity effects and presentation-rate effects. Similarity effects in free recall led to important work on organization in free recall, whereas similarity effects in serial recall led to the phonological basis of short-term memory. Presentation-rate effects operate quite differently in free and serial recall. The model also does not consider recall order effects or interresponse times in free recall, which may be problematic.     

Differentiation of Self,Interpersonal Conflict,and Depression: The Mediating Role of Anger Expression

The current study investigated how differentiation of self (Bowen in Family therapy in clinical practice. Jason Aronson, New York, 1978; Kerr and Bowen in Family evaluation. W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 1988) was related to interpersonal conflict and depression, and tested mediation hypotheses involving anger expression. The results revealed that anger expressed outwardly partially mediated the relationship between emotional reactivity and interpersonal conflict, and that anger expressed inwardly fully mediated the relationship between emotional cutoff and depression among 260 college students attending an urban university located in Midwestern United States.     

Relationship satisfaction determines the association between Epstein–Barr virus latency and somatic symptoms after the loss of a spouse

The loss of a spouse is associated with a host of negative health outcomes. While bereaved individuals commonly report somatic symptoms, no investigations exist of the association between reactivation of latent Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and somatic symptoms among this population. Further, how an individual perceives the quality of their lost relationship in retrospect may impact loss outcomes. Among 99 bereaved spouses, elevated EBV antibody titers were associated with somatic symptoms for those who retrospectively reported high or mean levels of relationship satisfaction (RS), but not among those less satisfied. Further, higher RS was associated with greater grief symptoms. This study identifies higher retrospective RS as a possible risk factor for negative physical and mental health outcomes during bereavement.