Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms following traumatic brain injuries in children.

The prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms following childhood traumatic brain injuries (TBI) were examined using data drawn from a prospective longitudinal study. Participants included 38 children with severe TBI, 51 with moderate TBI, and 55 with orthopedic injuries (OI). Assessments occurred shortly after injury (baseline) and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Children completed the Child Depression Inventory (CDI). Parents rated depressive symptoms using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBC), with baseline ratings reflecting premorbid status. Assessments also included measures of children's neurocognitive functioning and the family environment. The three groups did not differ overall in self-reported symptoms on the CDI, but did display different trends over time. The three groups did not differ on parent ratings of premorbid depressive symptoms on the CBC, but parents reported more depressive symptoms in the TBI groups than in the OI group at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Child and parent reports were correlated for children in the TBI groups, but not for those in the OI group. Depressive symptoms were related to socioeconomic status in all groups. Socioeconomic status also was a significant moderator of group differences, such that the effects of TBI were exacerbated in children from more disadvantaged homes. Although self-reports of depressive symptoms were related inconsistently to children's verbal memory, parent reports of depressive symptoms were unrelated to IQ or verbal memory. The findings suggest that TBI increases the risk of depressive symptoms, especially among more socially disadvantaged children, and that depressive symptoms are not strongly related to post-injury neurocognitive deficits.     

Effects of the medical resonance therapy music® on haemodynamic parameter in children with autonomic nervous system disturbances

The present investigation is dedicated to the effects of the Medical Resonance Therapy Music^® (MRT-Music) on basic haemodynamic parameter in children with transient arterial hypertension due to disturbances of the autonomic nervous system with different degrees of initial sympatheticotonia. After the nuclear accident at Chernobyl many children developed blood pressure too high for their age norm. Having already observed a decrease in high blood pressure in pregnant women during Medical Resonance Therapy Music (Gerasimovich, Einysh, 1999; Gerasimovich, Sidorenko, 1995; Sidorenko, Tetiorkina, Korotkov, 1997) we studied the effects of the Medical Resonance Therapy Music^® (MRT-Music) on such children—with very positive results: the treatment with the music preparations demonstrated a clear sympatholythic effect and led the disturbed haemodynamic state back to its healthy age norm.     

Effects of the medical resonance therapy music in the complex treatment of epileptic patients

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Medical Resonance Therapy Music (MRT-Music) as a psycho-physiological method for the treatment of epilepsy in severe epileptic patients, whose attacks persevered despite comprehensive drug treatments. Under investigation were frequency and severity of epileptic attacks, the subjective state, the dynamics of the inter-paroxysmal symptoms and the individual parameters of the functional asymmetry of the brain (IPFA). Frequency and severity of the paroxysms changed positively in 80 percent of the cases: frequency of attacks were reduced by 75 percent and many attacks manifested in the form of abortive variants. The paroxysmal component, the degree of amnesia and the polymorphism of the attacks were reduced. Such positive changes were 4 times less frequent in the control group. Changes in subjective state were 90 percent positive: the patients felt more healthy, were calmer, had a better mood and fewer ups and downs in mood, released tension, and reduced unrest, wrath, and irritation. The evaluation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) showed clear improvements in the inter-paroxysmal clinical picture, particularly in those paramaters that characterise the general degree of sickness, psychasthenic and paranoid traits, hypochondria, aggression and depressive states. Similar positive changes in the control group were observed two times less frequently. The changes of the IPFA-values were positive in 73.3 percent of the patients (27.8 percent in controls), had differently directed shiftings, were dependent on the initial level, and were determined by the location of the epileptic focus. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A31BB039 00004     

Building Models for the Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Suicide and Suicidal Behavior: Based on Data from General Population Surveys in Sweden,Norway, and Russia

Our aim was to build a model delineating the relationship between attitudes toward suicide and suicidal behavior and to assess equivalence by applying the model on data from different countries. Representative samples from the general population were approached in Sweden, Norway, and Russia with the Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS) questionnaire. Data on experience of suicidal behavior among significant others and self‐reported suicidal expressions were also collected. Structural equation modeling resulted in gender and country specific models where experience of suicidal behavior among significant others and self‐reported suicidal expressions earlier in life predicted attitudes, and attitudes predicted current suicidal expressions. The models included the attitude factors acceptance of suicide, condemnation, and preventability; age and level of education were also incorporated. The different models reveal possible ways to better understand gender and culture‐specific paths between attitudes and suicidal behaviors, and their relevance in a suicide prevention context is considered.     

A Review of “Suicidal Intent” Within the Existing Suicide Literature

The results of a systematic literature review that investigated suicide intent are presented. Of the 44 relevant articles identified, 17 investigated the relationships between various suicide risk factors and suicide intent and 25 publications investigated the relationships between suicide intent and various suicide outcomes. Despite recent advancements in the definition and nomological validity of suicide intent, a high degree of variability in the empirical measurement and analysis of suicide intent was found. Such variability limits future research related to measuring suicidal risk and outcomes, reporting suicide intent, or the meaningful comparison of diagnostic approaches or treatments across multiple studies.     

Prognosis after Adolescent Suicide Attempt: Mental Health,Psychiatric Treatment,and Suicide Attempts in a Nine‐Year Follow‐up Study

The prevalence of mental health and suicidal behavior was examined 8 to 10 years after an adolescent suicide attempt. Of 71 persons, 79% had at least one psychiatric disorder (mean 1.7) at follow‐up, most commonly depression (46%), personality disorder (46%), and anxiety disorder (42%). The stability of diagnoses was moderate. The suicide attempters had received a substantial amount of treatment. One third had received inpatient treatment, and 78% psychiatric treatment, despite low compliance shortly after the index suicide attempt. At follow‐up, repeated suicide attempts were found in 44% of the sample, and half of those had an affective or personality disorder.     

Age at injury and long-term behavior problems after traumatic brain injury in young children

Objective: This study examined the effects of age at injury on the persistence of behavior problems and social skill deficits in young children with complicated mild to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: A concurrent cohort/prospective research design was used with repeated assessments of children with TBI (n = 82) or Orthopedic Injury (OI) (n = 114). Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions, and the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales or the Home and Community Social and Behavior Scales shortly after injury to assess preinjury functioning, and at an extended follow-up an average of 38 months postinjury. Generalized linear modeling was used to examine the relationship of age at injury to the maintenance of behavior problems, and logistic regression was used to examine the persistence of clinically significant behavior problems. Results: At the extended follow-up, severe TBI was associated with significantly greater anxiety problems relative to the Group OI. With increasing time since injury, children who sustained a severe TBI at an earlier age had significantly higher levels of parent-reported symptoms of ADHD and anxiety than children who were older at injury. Conclusions: Findings suggest that longer-term treatment for behavior problems may be needed after severe TBI, particularly for those injured at an earlier age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Interpretation and method

Abstract

Interpretation started as the central tool of psychoanalytic theory, but it has undergone changes, just as the theory it was based on has evolved. Not only have these significant changes been determined by cultural trends, but different authors have also contributed to their evolution through their approaches to various other pathologies besides neurosis. Today, the cure process is divided between those who believe that therapeutic efficiency should be based on the different interpretation models, and those who maintain that it can be only sustained by the modifying capacity of the therapeutic relationship. Both positions are supposedly upheld by the results of tests that both models believe are sufficient proof but that, in the current author's opinion, lead back to the type of pathology they arose from, although they may at times attempt to cover the entire theoretical spectrum. The position upheld by Gedo—who considers that the psychoanalyst's intervention will depend on the degree of evolution that the pathology has achieved—is of great interest for specific practice. Hence, the more primitive levels require a treatment founded on holding, whereas more evolved pathologies require a more classic level of interpretation. This implies that the stages of a particular patient's evolution may require interventions at different levels, even though these may be founded on different theoretical models. This model, which we may brand as eclectic, is basically the one we find underpinning different theoretical models, which effectively appear to integrate others.