Assessment of Suicidal Youth in the Emergency Department

Accurate evaluation of suicidal adolescents in the emergency department (ED) is critical for safety and linkage to follow‐up care. We examined self‐reports of 181 adolescents who presented to an ED with suicidal ideation (SI) or a suicide attempt (SA). Parents also completed self‐reports. Results showed fair agreement between parents and youth on the reason for the ED visit (e.g., SI vs. SA) and greater agreement between independent judges and youths than between judges and parents. In accordance with accepted definitions of suicide attempts (e.g., Crosby, Ortega, & Melanson, 2011; O'Carroll, Berman, Maris, Moscicki, Tanney, & Silverman, 1996, p. 237; Posner, Oquendo, Gould, Stanley, & Davies, 2007, p. 1035; Silverman, Berman, Sanddal, O'Carroll, & Joiner, 2007, p. 248), most youth with SA as the reason for the ED visit reported some intent to die associated with the attempt. Finally, youth presenting to the ED with SA did not differ clinically from youth presenting with SI, and almost half of youths with SI reported past suicide attempts. These results highlight the need to emphasize adolescents' reports in clinical decision making, suggest adolescents' defined suicide attempts similarly to published definitions, and show that assessment of past SAs, as well as present suicidal thoughts and behaviors, is critical in determining future risk.     

BRIEF REPORT

The emotional Stroop task has been widely used to examine attentional bias in a variety of psychological disorders. In one format of this task, words are presented to participants in a mixed randomised or quasi-randomised sequence. We present data from two independent studies involving smokers, the results of which show that words appearing after smoking-related items in the mixed sequence are responded to more slowly than words appearing after neutral items. These carry-over effects may reduce the size of emotional Stroop effects on the mixed Stroop task. We discuss the implications of these carry-over effects for research using the emotional Stroop task.     

Mothers and day-care teachers: Young children's perceptions

Young children's perceptions of the roles of mothers and day-care teachers were explored in a study using artists' sketches depicting a woman and a child in a variety of functions and emotional interactions. Fifty-seven 5-year-old children were interviewed. Twenty-five of these children were interviewed again approximately 10 days later to measure stability of responses. Young children apparently perceive their mothers and day-care teachers performing similar caregiving, guidance and developmental functions. Intensity of children's feelings still leans toward mother as the major figure in physical, intellectual, social and emotional development. Thus, the mother-child bond is apparently not threatened by a quality day-care experience. Stability measurements demonstrated that the interview procedure was a reliable investigative approach.     

IMPROVING WOMEN'S PERFORMANCE IN MIXED-SEX SITUATIONS BY EFFORT ATTRIBUTIONS

Seventy-two males and 72 females in either mixed-sex, same-sex or alone situations were led to fail on an initial task. Prior to a second task, they were given either a neutral orientation or an ego-involving orientation emphasizing attributions to effort. Without the effort attribution, women in the mixed-sex situation had lower expectations than men, performed worse, rewarded themselves less and attributed their poor performance to a lack of ability more than men did. In the same-sex and alone situations, however, the women's expectations, performance and self-reward did not differ between the effort and neutral conditions, nor did their behaviors differ from the men's. The men's expectations, performance, and preference for task difficulty attributions were not affected by the experimental manipulations. These data demonstrated the benefit of "attribution therapy" for women working in the presence of men.     

Making Space for Every Body: Ending Sizeism in Psychotherapy and Training

Abstract

The importance of addressing weight bias as a social justice issue in psychotherapy and psychology education and training is introduced. The history of the development of fat studies is briefly reviewed. Current coverage of size and sizeism in psychology is critically examined and contrasted with the increasing adoption of the medical model of “obesity.” Fat shaming in the practice of mental health professionals is examined as a barrier to clients’ physical and mental health. Alternatives to medicalized weight management and fat shaming are introduced. Models that emphasize size acceptance and resist negative embodiment are encouraged. The potential for a future that makes space for every body is assessed.