A thematic comparison of suicide notes drawn from Northern Ireland and the United States

Suicide is a global concern hence cross-cultural research ought to be central to national suicide prevention strategies. This study sought to investigate suicide notes drawn from Northern Ireland and the United States as these countries have broadly similar suicide rates but markedly different cultures. A theoretical-conceptual analysis of sixty suicide notes drawn from these countries, matched for age and sex, was undertaken based on a thematic model of suicide developed by Leenaars (1996) across countries. The results suggested that there were more psychological commonalities than differences. Two differences emerged which suggested that aspects of the interpersonal components may be more salient in Northern Irish rather than American suicides. It is argued that more wide-ranging cross-cultural studies are required to enhance our ability to identify and predict those most at risk from suicide.     

The Eclipse of Imagination Within Educational ‘Official’ Framework and Why It Should be Returned to Educational Discourse: A Deweyan Perspective

In recent decades, the shift towards the “learnification” of educational discourse has de facto reframed educational purposes and schooling practice, thus reframing what students should know, strive for, and, in a sense, be. In this paper, given the efforts to disrupt the dominance of learning discourse, I seek to engage regarding a specific concern, namely, the progressive removal of imagination within educational official framework. Indeed, imagination has virtually disappeared from the documents, publications, web pages and recommendations of major educational agencies and institutions worldwide, with important and potentially damaging consequences for schooling, teaching and learning. Employing a Deweyan perspective, I argue that imagination plays a crucial role in the creation of pivotal educational features and phenomena, such as knowledge, inquiry, choice and deliberation, critical agency, meaning creation, and, importantly, the openness of possibilities. Therefore, the eclipse of imagination becomes, at the very same time, the eclipse of education; nurturing imagination is about nurturing education.     

Maternal Depression and Youth Internalizing and Externalizing Symptomatology: Severity and Chronicity of Past Maternal Depression and Current Maternal Depressive Symptoms

Maternal depression is a well-documented risk factor for youth depression, and taking into account its severity and chronicity may provide important insight into the degree of risk conferred. This study explored the degree to which the severity/chronicity of maternal depression history explained variance in youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms above and beyond current maternal depressive symptoms among 171 youth (58 % male) ages 8 to 12 over a span of 3 years. Severity and chronicity of past maternal depression and current maternal depressive symptoms were examined as predictors of parent-reported youth internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, as well as youth self-reported depressive symptoms. Severity and chronicity of past maternal depression did not account for additional variance in youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms at Time 1 beyond what was accounted for by maternal depressive symptoms at Time 1. Longitudinal growth curve modeling indicated that prior severity/chronicity of maternal depression predicted levels of youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms at each time point when controlling for current maternal depressive symptoms at each time point. Chronicity of maternal depression, apart from severity, also predicted rate of change in youth externalizing symptoms over time. These findings highlight the importance of screening and assessing for current maternal depressive symptoms, as well as the nature of past depressive episodes. Possible mechanisms underlying the association between severity/chronicity of maternal depression and youth outcomes, such as residual effects from depressive history on mother–child interactions, are discussed.     

The Relationships of Teacher Ethnic Discrimination,Ethnic Identification,and Host National Identification to School Misconduct of Turkish and Moroccan Immigrant Adolescents in Belgium

We focus on school misconduct and how ethnic teacher discrimination, ethnic identification, and host national identification are associated with school misconduct of male and female immigrant adolescents. Additionally, we verify the moderating role of ethnic identification and host national identification. The results show that discrimination and host national identification are related with the school deviance of immigrant adolescents. The relationship between discrimination and school deviance differs for male and female adolescents. Ethnic identification and host national identification only moderate the relationship of ethnic teacher discrimination and school delinquency for girls who experienced ethnic teacher discrimination on a frequent basis.     

Oil,Crime, and Disorder: A Methodological Examination of the Oil Boom’s Impact in North Dakota

This article examines the impact the oil boom has had on crime and disorder in North Dakota. Particular attention is paid to the methods used to analyze these impacts. Several quantitative analyses, including t-tests and regressions, were performed and critiqued. Overall, few significant relationships were found that could link the oil boom to increases in crime and disorder. In addition, this article introduces location quotients as an alternative method to examine crime and disorder in boomtown settings. The results suggest that the impact of the boom was localized in that different counties experienced differential crime and disorder impacts.     

Connection between Suicidal Ideation,Life Meaning,and Leisure Time Activities

This study is an examination of the links between adolescent suicidal ideation, life meaning, and the ways they spend their leisure time. The sample consisted of 450 students aged 15–18. Findings showed a significant negative correlation between suicidal ideation and sense of life meaning, encompassing factors such as age and gender. Adolescents with involvement in social activities demonstrated lower levels of suicidal ideation (total score), and lower levels of depression and anxiety, than the other two groups. The study discusses the research and practical implications of these findings. The findings suggest the possibility of establishing prevention, intervention, and therapy programs for adolescents based on life meaning.     

Why might poor sleep quality lead to depression? A role for emotion regulation

Disordered sleep is strongly linked to future depression, but the reasons for this link are not well understood. This study tested one possibility – that poorer sleep impairs emotion regulation (ER), which over time leads to increased depressive symptoms. Our sample contained individuals with a wide range of depression symptoms (current depression, N?=?54, remitted depression, N?=?36, and healthy control, N?=?53), who were followed clinically over six months and reassessed for changes in depressive symptom levels. As predicted, maladaptive ER mediated both cross-sectional and prospective relationships between poor sleep quality and depression symptoms. In contrast, an alternative mediator, physical activity levels, did not mediate the link between sleep quality and depression symptoms. Maladaptive ER may help explain why sleep difficulties contribute to depression symptoms; implications for interventions are discussed.     

A longitudinal investigation of older adults’ physical activity: Testing an integrated dual-process model

Objective: To assess the effects of conscious and non-conscious processes for prediction of older adults’ physical activity (PA), we tested a dual-process model that integrated motivational (behavioural intention) and volitional (action planning and coping planning) processes with non-conscious, automatic processes (habit).

Method: Participants (N = 215) comprised community-dwelling older adults (M = 73.8 years). A longitudinal design was adopted to investigate direct and indirect effects of intentions, habit strength (Time 1), and action planning and coping planning (Time 2) on PA behaviour (Time 3). Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the model.

Results: The model provided a good fit to the data, accounting for 44% of the variance in PA behaviour at Time 3. PA was predicted by intentions, action planning, and habit strength, with action planning mediating the intention-behaviour relationship. An effect of sex was also found where males used fewer planning strategies and engaged in more PA than females.

Conclusions: By investigating an integration of conscious and non-conscious processes, this study provides a novel understanding of older adults’ PA. Interventions aiming to promote PA behaviour of older adults should target the combination of psychological processes.     

First interactions between hydrogen and stress-induced reverse transformation of Ni–Ti superelastic alloy

The first dynamic interactions between hydrogen and the stress-induced reverse transformation have been investigated by performing an unloading test on a Ni–Ti superelastic alloy subjected to hydrogen charging under a constant applied strain in the elastic deformation region of the martensite phase. Upon unloading the specimen, charged with a small amount of hydrogen, no change in the behaviour of the stress-induced reverse transformation is observed in the stress-strain curve, although the behaviour of the stress-induced martensite transformation changes. With increasing amount of hydrogen charging, the critical stress for the reverse transformation markedly decreases. Eventually, for a larger amount of hydrogen charging, the reverse transformation does not occur, i.e. there is no recovery of the superelastic strain. The residual martensite phase on the side surface of the unloaded specimen is confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Upon training before the unloading test, the properties of the reverse transformation slightly recover after ageing in air at room temperature. The present study indicates that to change the behaviour of the reverse transformation a larger amount of hydrogen than that for the martensite transformation is necessary. In addition, it is likely that a substantial amount of hydrogen in solid solution more strongly suppresses the reverse transformation than hydrogen trapped at defects, thereby stabilising the martensite phase.