Childhood physical and sexual abuse and lifetime number of suicide attempts: a persistent and theoretically important relationship

BACKGROUND: Research to date has indicated that childhood abuse is associated with suicide, though little research has examined the unique contribution of specific types of abuse to suicidal behavior. We predict that childhood physical and violent sexual abuse will have a greater effect on suicide attempts than molestation and verbal abuse. METHODS: The National Comorbidity Survey data were used to test these predictions while controlling for a number of psychiatric and psychosocial variables. RESULTS: As expected, childhood physical and violent sexual abuse showed similar effects on lifetime suicide attempts, which were stronger than the effects of molestation and verbal abuse. LIMITATIONS: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective study, so true causality cannot be shown. Some measurement limitations exist. Additionally, effect sizes were small but still significant. CONCLUSIONS: While all forms of childhood abuse are troubling and create risk for future psychopathology and suicidality, the present study indicates that childhood physical and violent sexual abuse should be seen as greater risk factors for future suicide attempts than molestation and verbal abuse.     

Stigma and Discrimination in Health-Care Provision to Drug Users: The Role of Values, Affect, and Deservingness Judgments

This study examined the role of values, affect, and deservingness judgments in health professionals' views of patients with stigmatized conditions (e.g., drug dependence). Participants were 277 nurses who responded to a survey containing 2 scenarios of a nurse providing high- or low-quality care to a patient with a condition related to prolonged use of alcohol or heroin. Affective responses to the patient were more positive for nurses with higher self-transcendence values, and more negative for nurses with higher conservation values. Deservingness judgments were predicted by positive and negative affect toward the patient, but not by attributions of responsibility for drug use. Deservingness judgments emerged as strong predictors of nurses' satisfaction with the provision of high- or low-quality care. The findings imply that the deservingness judgments made by nurses reflected strong entitlement norms concerning the provision of proper care for patients that were independent of patients' perceived responsibility for their condition.     

The Effects of Instructions on Mothers’ Ratings of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Referred Children

Tested whether instructions for how to rate child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms would improve the agreement between mothers’ ratings of symptoms in their children and ratings provided by teachers and objective observers. Sixty-eight mothers of 5 to 12 year old children (53 boys and 15 girls) referred for ADHD assessment were randomly assigned to receive or not receive the instructions. Mothers and teachers rated the children on the SNAP-IV Rating Scale and objective observers rated the children’s behavior during structured tasks. Relations between mother and teacher, and mother and observer ratings were generally stronger for mothers in the Instruction group compared to mothers in the No Instruction group, in some cases significantly stronger. The instructional materials also improved mothers’ knowledge of how to rate ADHD symptoms and reduced some associations between mothers’ ratings and family socioeconomic status. These instructions have the potential to improve clinical assessments of child ADHD symptoms.     

Left Hemispheric Lateral Preference and High Neuroticism Predict Disinhibition in Two Go/No‐Go Experiments

Although disinhibition is widely implicated in impulse‐control‐related psychopathologies, debate remains regarding the underlying approach and avoidance processes of this construct. In two studies, we simultaneously tested three competing models in which varying levels of extraversion, neuroticism, and hemispheric lateral preference are associated with disinhibition. In both studies (Study 1, N = 92; Study 2, N = 124), undergraduate students were randomly allocated to one of two versions of the go/no‐go task: one where participants were primed through reward to make more “go” responses and another where no such priming occurred. Neuroticism, extraversion, and hemispheric lateral preference measures were also collected. Across both studies, disinhibition was greatest in individuals who reported both a left hemispheric lateral preference and high neuroticism. This pattern was only found for those who were primed through reward to make more “go” responses. There was no association with extraversion. Contrary to previous research, our results suggest that left hemispheric asymmetry and neuroticism and not extraversion drive disinhibited approach, following the establishment of a prepotent approach response set. This has salient implications for the theoretical understanding of disinhibited behavior, as well as for the study of continued maladaptive approach behavior.     

Language Experience Affects Grouping of Musical Instrument Sounds

Language experience clearly affects the perception of speech, but little is known about whether these differences in perception extend to non‐speech sounds. In this study, we investigated rhythmic perception of non‐linguistic sounds in speakers of French and German using a grouping task, in which complexity (variability in sounds, presence of pauses) was manipulated. In this task, participants grouped sequences of auditory chimeras formed from musical instruments. These chimeras mimic the complexity of speech without being speech. We found that, while showing the same overall grouping preferences, the German speakers showed stronger biases than the French speakers in grouping complex sequences. Sound variability reduced all participants’ biases, resulting in the French group showing no grouping preference for the most variable sequences, though this reduction was attenuated by musical experience. In sum, this study demonstrates that linguistic experience, musical experience, and complexity affect rhythmic grouping of non‐linguistic sounds and suggests that experience with acoustic cues in a meaningful context (language or music) is necessary for developing a robust grouping preference that survives acoustic variability.     

Anticipatory Anxiety in the Treatment of Combat Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Combat veterans have experienced a transformational process during war zone deployment, including emotional, cognitive, and sensory processing changes. They also return entrenched in military expectations of conduct and behavior. These changes result in anticipatory anxiety that makes it difficult to reintegrate into the civilian world, and are related to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The PTSD Recovery Program at the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) is a manualized treatment that focuses on the personal and daily experiences of combat veterans rather than exposure to traumatic memories. Program evaluation data demonstrated significant reduction in PTSD symptoms and improvements in general self-efficacy and adaptive behaviors. Results support the PTSD Recovery Program as an effective treatment that enhances readjustment to civilian life.     

An Intriguing Third Way: Mapping Contextual Education for Curricular Integration

This article emerges from the experience of incorporating doctoral students into our Contextual Education (CXE) Program at Emmanuel College (Toronto). This change, I argue, helped us to distinguish more clearly among and thus distinctly orient the different kinds of relationships and theological practices that make up our program towards the often‐elusive goal of curricular integration. After outlining a definition of integration, I contextualize that definition in our particular practices at Emmanuel College using Kathryn Tanner's (1997) understanding of theology as a cultural practice as my guide. I then offer a brief overview of our CXE Programs to demonstrate how nurturing strategic partnerships within them has made certain forms of integration possible for our students. I close with some activities for practical application in other CXE contexts.     

How I Attend—Not How Well Do I Attend: Rethinking Developmental Frameworks of Attention and Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development

Evidence from the study of attention among persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children suggests a rethinking of the notion that performance inherently reflects disability, ability, or capacity in favor of a more nuanced story that involves an emphasis on styles and biases that reflect real-world attending. We provide examples from behavioral and physiological research in which performance on attention tasks is not solely a function of abilities, or disabilities, per se but rather is also a function of the ways in which they are implemented. Thus, the study of attention both among persons with ASD and in typical development might best be recast in terms of the question of “how” rather than “how well.”     

Olfactory Reference Syndrome: A Case Report and Screening Tool

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) is a lesser known disorder that is related to obsessive–compulsive disorder. ORS is the obsessional and...