The relationship between paired associate learning and phonological skills in normally developing readers

Seventy-five 6- to 11-year-old children were administered tests of phonological awareness, verbal short term memory (STM), and visual-verbal paired associate learning (PA learning) to investigate their relationship with word recognition and decoding skills. Phonological awareness was a stronger concurrent predictor of word recognition than verbal STM, and phonological awareness but not verbal STM was a predictor of learning in the PA learning task. Importantly, measures of phonological awareness and PA learning both accounted for independent variance in word reading, even when decoding skill was controlled. The results suggest that PA learning and phonological awareness tasks tap two separate mechanisms involved in learning to read. The results are discussed in relation to current theories of reading development.     

Tie strength and family formation: Which personal relationships are influential?

On the basis of the analysis of qualitative interviews in Western Germany, it has been argued that personal relationships have a strong impact on individuals' family formation processes and childbearing intentions. Persons who influence individuals' childbearing choices were identified. Strong ties, such as among core family members (i.e., parents and siblings), are an important contributing factor, but the authors are also able to show that weak ties, such as those among colleagues and acquaintances, need to be considered when examining social influence on family formation processes. Apart from single network partners, influential groups of persons have been identified. Such groups serve as a comparative standard regarding the timing of having one's first child and subsequent children.     

Nonresident Suicides in England: A National Study

Little is known about the numbers and characteristics of people who travel away from home before dying by suicide. Therefore, this studied attempts to identify the sociodemographic characteristics, location, and method of suicide in people who died distant from home, in a national sample. Data were collected on all English suicides and a patient population; nonresident suicides resided in one Health Authority but died in a different one. Twelve percent of suicides were nonresident and features of these included: young age, social adversity, and severe mental illness. In conclusion, both individual‐ and area‐based factors are likely to contribute to suicide away from home.     

Method of Suicide in the Mentally Ill: A National Clinical Survey

Comparisons of psychiatric patients who die by suicide using different methods are scarce. We aimed to establish the methods of suicide used by those who are currently or have recently been in contact with mental health services in England and Wales (N = 6,203), and describe the social and clinical characteristics of suicides by different methods. We found that hanging, self‐poisoning, and jumping (from a height or in front of a moving vehicle) were the most common methods of suicide, accounting for 79% of all deaths. The implications of these and other findings are discussed.