Active school travel is associated with fewer suicide attempts among adolescents from low-and middle-income countries

Background/Objective: This study explored the association between active school travel (AST) and suicide attempts among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Method: We used the data from the Global School-based Health Survey, including 127,097 adolescents aged 13-17 years from 34 LMICs. A self-reported survey was used to collect data on AST and suicide attempts as well as some variables. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association between AST and suicide attempts. A meta-analysis with random effects was undertaken to identify the difference in the association between AST and suicide attempts. Results: Across all the adolescents, the prevalence of AST was 37% and the prevalence of suicide attempts was 11.60%. Adolescents who engaged in AST were less likely to have suicide attempts irrespective of gender. The country-wise analysis indicated a large inconsistency in the association between AST and suicide attempt across the countries. Conclusions: AST would appear to be a protective factor for reducing suicide attempts among adolescents. However, the association between AST and suicide attempts varied greatly across the countries. Future studies should confirm the association between AST and suicide attempts.     

Infants of “depressed” mothers interact better with their nondepressed fathers

To determine whether infants of “depressed” mothers interact better with their nondepressed fathers, twenty-six 3- to 6-month-old infants were videotaped during face-to-face interactions with their parents. The “depressed” mother group consisted of twelve 3- to 6-month-old infants and their “depressed” mothers and nondepressed fathers. The control group was composed of 14 nondepressed mothers and nondepressed fathers and their 3- to 6-month-old infants. In the “depressed” mother group, the nondepressed fathers received better interaction ratings than the “depressed” mothers. In turn, the infants received better interaction ratings when they interacted with their nondepressed fathers than with their “depressed” mothers. In contrast, nondepressed fathers and mothers and their infants in the control group did not differ on any of their interaction ratings. These findings suggest that infants' difficult interaction behaviors noted during interactions with their “depressed” mothers may not extend to their nondepressed fathers. The data are discussed with respect to the notion that nondepressed fathers may “buffer” the effects of maternal depression on infant interaction behavior.     

Suicidal attempt and psychiatric disorders in Iran

This study is part of broader research aimed to determine the lifetime prevalence and pattern of comorbidity on self-reported suicidal attempts in the general population of Iran. Overall, 25,180 subjects were interviewed, face-to-face, at home; the lifetime prevalence was 1.4% (0.9% males and 2% females). The majority of attempters were 26-55 years of age, married, more highly educated, female, retired, and lived in urban areas. Many of the attempters (45.3%) reported at least one psychiatric disorder during their lifetime; major depressive disorder (22%), panic disorder (6.3%), and obsessive compulsive disorder (6%) was the most common. Because less than half of suicidal attempters reported a psychiatric disorder, the existence of other pathways to suicide may be important foci for prevention. Many of the demographic correlates of suicidal behavior in Iran are very similar to those seen in Western cutlures; however, the sociodemographic factors such as few working women and very low levels of divorce is quite different to that of Western populations.     

An effective approach to violence prevention: traditional martial arts in middle school

This study replicated and extended the design and outcome measures of several small studies. In these studies, juveniles at high risk for violence and delinquency showed decreased violence and positive changes in psychological risk factors after being required to take a school-linked course in traditional martial arts. In the present study, 60 boys in a large urban middle school were required to take a traditional martial arts course in their school. They were paired on problematic behavior profiles and assigned to a treatment group or to a wait-list control group. Thirty classes, three per week (45 minutes each), were taught by a master of Koga Ha Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo and his assistant (neither was a public school teacher). Results are reported here for 14 variables from the following measures: four teacher rating scales from the Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory, five self-report scales of the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale, four computerized measures of attentional self-control from the Intermediate Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test, and a count of permanent expulsions from school. The treatment students improved over baseline on 12 variables, while the controls improved on 5 by small amounts and deteriorated from baseline on 8, including teacher-rated violence. There were significant differences between the groups on self-reported happiness and schoolwork and on one measure of attention. After controls took the course, their scores resembled the postcourse scores of the treatment group. Importantly, the control group's increase in teacher-rated violence was reversed. Both groups were then pooled to compare baseline and postcourse teacher ratings. Their scores improved significantly in the areas of resistance to rules, impulsiveness, and inappropriate social behavior. There was also improvement in regard to violence, but the change in scores was not statistically significant. Follow-up on teachers' ratings showed that improvement remained, and in some cases increased, four months after completion of the course. Interestingly, all 6 permanent expulsions were among the control group students who had not yet taken, or had only begun taking, the martial arts course.     

Protecting Human Health and Security in Digital Europe: How to Deal with the “Privacy Paradox”?

This article is the result of an international research between law and ethics scholars from Universities in France and Switzerland, who have been closely collaborating with technical experts on the design and use of information and communication technologies in the fields of human health and security. The interdisciplinary approach is a unique feature and guarantees important new insights in the social, ethical and legal implications of these technologies for the individual and society as a whole. Its aim is to shed light on the tension between secrecy and transparency in the digital era. A special focus is put from the perspectives of psychology, medical ethics and European law on the contradiction between individuals’ motivations for consented processing of personal data and their fears about unknown disclosure, transferal and sharing of personal data via information and communication technologies (named the “privacy paradox”). Potential benefits and harms for the individual and society resulting from the use of computers, mobile phones, the Internet and social media are being discussed. Furthermore, the authors point out the ethical and legal limitations inherent to the processing of personal data in a democratic society governed by the rule of law. Finally, they seek to demonstrate that the impact of information and communication technology use on the individuals’ well-being, the latter being closely correlated with a high level of fundamental rights protection in Europe, is a promising feature of the socalled “e-democracy” as a new way to collectively attribute meaning to large-scale online actions, motivations and ideas.     

Languages for Gestalts of line patterns

Any formal model of visual Gestalt perception requires a language for representing possible perceptual structures of visual stimuli, as well as a decision criterion that selects the actually perceived structure of a stimulus among its possible alternatives. This paper discusses an existing model of visual Gestalt perception that is based on Structural Information Theory. We investigate two factors that determine the representational power of this model: the domain of visual stimuli that can be analyzed, and the class of perceptual structures that can be generated for these stimuli. We show that the representational power of the existing model of Structural Information Theory is limited, and that some of the generated structures are perceptually inadequate. We argue that these limitations do not imply the implausibility of the underlying ideas of Structural Information Theory and introduce alternative models based on the same ideas. For each of these models, the domain of visual stimuli that can be analyzed properly is formally defined. We show that the models are conservative modifications of the original model of Structural Information Theory: for cases that are adequately analyzed in the original model of Structural Information Theory, they yield the same results.     

A cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention based on the Health Action Process Approach for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in Iranian adolescents

Objective: To evaluate an intervention programme based on the Health Action Process Approach and designed to increase the intake of fruit and vegetables (F&V) among Iranian adolescents aged 13 to 18.

Design: A randomised controlled trial with three arms examined the short- (1 month) and long-term (6 months) effects of the intervention. There were two intervention groups (one included adolescents only [A group; n = 510]; the second included mothers and adolescents [M + A group; n = 462]) and a control group (n = 483). All participants were recruited from schools.

Main outcome measures: Social cognitions, self-regulatory processes and F&V intake.

Results: The intervention led to an increase in F&V intake for adolescents in the short and long terms. Adolescents in the M + A group increased their F& V intake more than adolescents in the A group. Outcome expectancies, self-monitoring, intentions, action and coping planning, perceived social support and behavioural automaticity mediated the effect of the intervention on F&V intake.

Conclusion: The theory-based intervention led to an increase in F&V intake and promoted more positive social cognitions and self-regulatory processes among Iranian adolescents. The findings also provide evidence that involving mothers in an intervention can confer additional benefit.     

Public Perceptions of Nanotechnology: A Survey in the Mega Cities of Iran

In this paper, the public view of nanotechnology and its applications in medicine, agriculture and industry is evaluated in the mega cities of Iran. Data from 683 individuals in public places provided the first civic perception of nanotechnology in Iran. Quantitative statistical analysis on positive or negative points of view demonstrated that Iranian people had general positive opinions on nanotechnology and its application in medicine. They believed that nanomedicine can significantly improve the current methods used in disease treatments, especially for cancer therapy. In general, the responders believed that they would easily accept the use of nanotechnology products and would like increased financial support of the government on nanomedicine and nanotechnology research fields and they showed little anxiety about the possible risks. According to our statistical analysis, three individual characteristics age, education level and career had a direct correlation with the knowledge level of Iranian people on nanotechnology in the mega cities of Iran.