Suicide in the media: a quantitative review of studies based on non-fictional stories

Research on the effect of suicide stories in the media on suicide in the real world has been marked by much debate and inconsistent findings. Recent narrative reviews have suggested that research based on nonfictional models is more apt to uncover imitative effects than research based on fictional models. There is, however, substantial variation in media effects within the research restricted to nonfictional accounts of suicide. The present analysis provides some explanations of the variation in findings in the work on nonfictional media. Logistic regression techniques applied to 419 findings from 55 studies determined that: (1) studies measuring the presence of either an entertainment or political celebrity were 5.27 times more likely to find a copycat effect, (2) studies focusing on stories that stressed negative definitions of suicide were 99% less likely to report a copycat effect, (3) research based on television stories (which receive less coverage than print stories) were 79% less likely to find a copycat effect, and (4) studies focusing on female suicide were 4.89 times more likely to report a copycat effect than other studies. The full logistic regression model correctly classified 77.3% of the findings from the 55 studies. Methodological differences among studies are associated with discrepancies in their results.     

Development and Initial Validation of the Multicultural Personality Inventory (MPI)

Two studies summarize the development and initial validation of the Multicultural Personality Inventory (MPI). In Study 1, the 115-item prototype MPI was administered to 415 university students where exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 70-item, 7-factor model. In Study 2, the 70-item MPI and theoretically related companion instruments were administered to a multisite sample of 576 university students. Confirmatory factory analysis found the 7-factor structure to be a relatively good fit to the data (Comparative Fit Index =.954; root mean square error of approximation =.057), and MPI factors predicted variance in criterion variables above and beyond the variance accounted for by broad personality traits (i.e., Big Five). Study limitations and directions for further validation research are specified.     

Mutual touch during mother–infant face-to-face still-face interactions: Influences of interaction period and infant birth status

Contact behaviours such as touch, have been shown to be influential channels of nonverbal communication between mothers and infants. While existing research has examined the communicative roles of maternal or infant touch in isolation, mutual touch, whereby touching behaviours occur simultaneously between mothers and their infants, has yet to be examined. The present study was designed to investigate mutual touch during face-to-face interactions between mothers and their 5½-month-old fullterm (n = 40), very low birth weight/preterm (VLBW/preterm; n = 40) infants, and infants at psychosocial risk (n = 41). Objectives were to examine: (1) how the quantitative and qualitative aspects of touch employed by mothers and their infants varied across the normal periods of the still-face (SF) procedure, and (2) how these were associated with risk status. Mutual touch was systematically coded using the mother–infant touch scale. Interactions were found to largely consist of mutual touch and one-sided touch plus movement, highlighting that active touching is pervasive during mother–infant interactions. Consistent with the literature, while the SF period did not negatively affect the amount of mutual touch engaged in for mothers and their fullterm infants and mothers and their infants at psychosocial risk, it did for mothers and their VLBW/preterm infants. Together, results illuminate how both mothers and infants participate in shaping and co-regulating their interactions through the use of touch and underscore the contribution of examining the influence of birth status on mutual touch.     

Prenatal psychotherapy and maternal transference to fetus

The psychodynamics of normal pregnancy include ambivalence, identification with the fetus as an outside object, as a part of self, and, finally, as a separate person. Positive and negative attributes can be projected upon the fetus. In infant-centered maternal psychotherapy, the infant often serves as a transference object. Many disorders of attachment or disorders of early parenting have their origins or manifest themselves in the prenatal period. During prenatal psychotherapy, the fetus can serve as a transference object. Review of the literature reveals conflicting views with regard to the effectiveness of prenatal psychotherapy. The developmental crisis of pregnancy may lead the woman to resolution of underlying problems with early detection and intervention. Review of the literature reveals cases of disorders of attachment and disorders of early parenting starting prenatally related to the mother's difficulties with her own parents or siblings. Case studies of prenatal psychotherapy demonstrate the role that the fetus plays as a transference object in the mother's efforts to rework some conflict from her own infancy or childhood.     

Suicide: A decade review of the sociological literature

Major works on suicide are reviewed and classified into four analytic categories according to their theoretical emphasis: cultural, economic, modernization, and social integration perspectives. The research under these paradigms is assessed in terms of four themes. First, attention is drawn to research evidence that questions traditional theories. An example is Durkheim's position on social class and suicide. Second, the review notes several new theories including Phillips’ imitation thesis and the author's own model of migration's effects on suicide. Third, the paper observes and reviews explanations of new trends in suicide rates such as the rapid increase in youth suicide and the decline in suicide among the elderly. Finally, the review calls attention to explanations of suicide, such as that linking suicide to low marital solidarity, that have withstood the test of the more rigorous empirical testing of recent times.     

Social and racial correlates of Russian roulette

The epidemiology of a neglected form of suicidal behavior, Russian roulette, is addressed. Also tested is an explanation of racial differences based on the opportunity theory of deviant behavior related to the availability of revolvers, necessary weapons with which to play Russian roulette. Data refer to 15 cases of Russian roulette found through a search of the medical examiner's suicide files (N = 1,412) and 75 matched controls who suicided by a gunshot to the head. The results support an opportunity perspective: 80% of the Russian roulette victims were African American compared to 30.7% of the controls. Further, among the controls, Blacks were three times more likely than Whites to use revolvers in suicides, a pattern indicating Blacks' greater access to revolvers. Russian roulette victims were entirely male, significantly younger, and less apt to be married than the control group.     

Book reviews

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