Cognitive variables related to suicidal contemplation in adolescents with implications for long-range prevention

In a series of studies with college and high school students (Total N=808) consistent and strong relationships were found between suicidal contemplation and the irrational beliefs considered by Rational-Emotive Theory & Therapy (RET) to underlie emotional distress. Suicidal contemplation was measured first by an item from the Beck Depression Inventory and subsequently by the Suicide Probability Scale. Irrational beliefs were measured by the Jones Irrational Beliefs Test and, in the third study, by the new Attitudes & Belief Scale-II as well. Groups formed on the basis of increasing indices of suicidal contemplation were found to be consistently, increasingly more irrational on both measures. Also groups created according to low, medium, and high levels of irrational beliefs (the B in RET) were found to be markedly different on C variables such as anxiety, depression, hopelessness, anger, psychosomoatic symptoms and suicidal contemplation. The findings were interpreted as strongly inferring a causational relationship from attitudes and beliefs to emotional distress and the contemplation of suicide. The implications of the findings for RET theory and for therapeutic and preventive strategies related to emotional distress and suicidal contemplation are clear. Other approaches to the explanation of suicide are cited and reference is made to a previous critical summary of them (Woods & Muller, 1988).Paul J. Woods, Ph.D., Co-Editor of this Journal, is a Fellow of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in New York City, a Professor of Psychology at Hollins College, and a Licensed Psychologist in independent practice in Roanoke, Virginia.Ellen S. Silverman, R. N., C. & M.A. collaborated in Study III for a Master's thesis at Hollins College. She is currently in a Ph.D. program in psychology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.Julia M. Gentilini, B. A. collaborated on Study I for an Honors' thesis in psychology at Hollins College.Deborah K. Cunningham, M. A. collaborated on Study II for a Master's thesis at Hollins College. She is currently in a Ph.D. program in psychology at the University of Memphis.Russell M. Grieger, Ph.D., Co-Editor of this Journal, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in independent practice in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a Fellow of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in New York City.     

Dogs’ ability to follow temporarily invisible moving objects: the ability to track and expect is shaped by experience

Animal Cognition - Visually tracking a moving object, even if it becomes temporarily invisible, is an important skill for animals living in complex environments. However, this ability has not been...     

Knowing,Understanding, Living,Dissenting and Countering: The Educational Moment in the Enhancement of Democratic Citizenship

Studies in Philosophy and Education - Education is commonly considered to be a transformational practice that contributes both to forging the personality of individuals and to promoting...     

The dual path of the rejection (dis)identification model: A study on adolescents with a migrant background

Ethnic-based rejection, especially when prolonged over time, can result in withdrawal (e.g., resignation) and antisocial (e.g., delinquent) behaviors. Rejection (dis)identification literature suggests that identification with the minority (ethnic) group and disidentification with the majority (national) group mediate the relationship between rejection and different dimensions of well-being. Through secondary analyses of survey data from an international sample of adolescents with a migrant background (N = 1,163) we tested the predictions that, following chronic experiences of rejection, disidentification from the national (rejecting) group will increase withdrawal and feelings of resignation whereas identification with the ethic (rejected) group will have a protective role toward delinquent behaviors. Results of the path analysis were consistent with these hypotheses without significant differences between immigrant generations. The study sheds light on the multifaceted nature of identification processes following social rejection and contributes to the integration of the rejection-identification model with classical theorizations of social exclusion.     

Dogs (Canis familiaris) recognise our faces in photographs: implications for existing and future research

Animal Cognition - Dogs are an ideal species to investigate phylogenetic and ontogenetic factors contributing to face recognition. Previous research has found that dogs can recognise their owner...     

Psychological maladjustment mediates the link between remembrances of parental rejection in childhood and loneliness in adulthood: A cross-cultural comparative study

Drawing stimulus from interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory, this multicultural study examined relations between men's versus women's remembrances of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection in childhood and their current level of loneliness, as mediated by adults' self-reported psychological maladjustment. Adults (N = 899) from five nations (Iraq, Italy, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and the United States) responded to the Adult version of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire-short form for mothers and fathers, the Adult version of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire-short form, and the Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Loneliness Scale. Adults' remembrances of maternal and paternal rejection in childhood significantly and independently predicted feelings of loneliness but remembered paternal rejection was more strongly related to these feelings than were remembrances of maternal rejection. Psychological maladjustment fully mediated the effect of remembered maternal rejection but only partially mediated the effect of remembered paternal rejection on loneliness. There were no significant differences in these results across the five countries or genders. Overall, the results suggest that adults' remembrances of parental rejection in childhood—along with the theoretically expected development of psychological maladjustment—are likely to be associated panculturally with the experience of loneliness in adulthood.     

A Comparison of MMPI-2 Profiles Between Parental Alienation Cases and Custody Cases

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The present study aimed at understanding the personality features of mothers and fathers engaged in parental alienation—a family dynamic in which one...     

Suicide after surgical treatment in patients with epilepsy: a meta-analytic investigation

Suicide is a major issue in surgically treated epileptic patients. A meta-analysis was performed comparing suicides in a sample of such patients and in the general population. The Index Medicus and the World Health Statistics Annual were searched to ascertain the suicide rates in the age groups indicated in the studies of epileptic patients for specific years and country. 11 studies were selected, comprising 2,425 patients, 24 of whom committed suicide. Data obtained for each study were processed together to calculate the mean number of suicides per 100,000 individuals with surgically treated epilepsy for each year. This meta-analysis shows that suicide in patients with epilepsy after surgical treatment is more frequent than in the general population. Results are discussed with particular attention to possible causative factors.     

Dissociating perception and action in Kanizsa's compression illusion

When a horizontally elongated surface is occluded in the middle by a larger surface, it appears narrower than its true width (Kanizsa’s compression illusion). We report that a similar compression effect occurs for closed-loop visuomotor matches of size, but not for otherwise comparable open-loop “mimed” reaching or size-matching visuomotor responses. Our study is the first in which a comparison of size perception in personal space with bilateral actions performed with both hands (instead of precision grips employing the thumb and the index finger) is used to investigate motor responses to Kanizsa’s compression illusion. Implications for the current debate on the existence of dissociations between spatial perception and visually controlled actions in personal space are discussed.     

Hierarchical stimulus processing by dogs (Canis familiaris)

The purpose of this study was to assess the visual processing of global and local levels of hierarchical stimuli in domestic dogs. Fourteen dogs were trained to recognise a compound stimulus in a simultaneous conditioned discrimination procedure and were then tested for their local/global preference in a discrimination test. As a group, dogs showed a non-significant trend for global precedence, although large inter-individual variability was observed. Choices in the test were not affected by either dogs’ sex or the type of stimulus used for training. However, the less time a dog took to complete the discrimination training phase, the higher the probability that it chose the global level of test stimulus. Moreover, dogs that showed a clear preference for the global level in the test were significantly less likely to show positional responses during discrimination training. These differences in the speed of acquisition and response patterns may reflect individual differences in the cognitive requirements during discrimination training. The individual variability in global/local precedence suggests that experience in using visual information may be more important than predisposition in determining global/local processing in dogs.