Ego identity status and values among high school females

To test the hypothesis that adolescent females who are high in ego identity have high interests in religious and political values, the relationship between the ego identity status of 80 senior high school females and their response to the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values was examined. Participants classified as being identity achievements, moratoriums, and foreclosures had higher religious value scores than did diffusions; however, the expected differences on political value scores were not found. Two-thirds of the identity achievers came from homes disrupted by divorce or death of one parent, while less than 20% of the members of the other three statuses came from broken homes.This report is based on the first author's M.A. thesis, which was submitted to the Graduate School, Texas Woman's University, 1978.Received her M.A. from Texas Woman's University. Major interests are ego identity formation and female adolescent development.Received Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Major interests are developmental effects of stress and neurophysiology.     

Adolescent sexual activity and pregnancy: Socioenvironmental problems,physical health,and mental health

This paper examines the association between adolescent pregnancy and socioenvironmental, physical, and mental health problems in 1590 inner-city females aged 13–18 who use health clinics. Adolescents who have become pregnant, those who are sexually active but never have been pregnant, and those who are sexually inactive are compared. The sexually active youngsters come from more psychosocially disadvantaged backgrounds than their sexually inactive peers; the sexually active girls who become pregnant come from more psychosocially disadvantaged backgrounds than those who have never been pregnant. Despite this, the youths who have become pregnant do not have more current relationship problems, more stressful life events, or worse physical health than the never-pregnant sexually active youths. Although sexually inactive youths have the lowest rates of mental health problems, adolescents who have been pregnant have lower rates of anxiety and conduct disorder symptoms than those who are sexually active but never pregnant.Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Fieldwork conducted by Survey Research Associates.Research interests include adolescents and children, parenting, and families.Research interests include epidemiology of child and adolescent psychiatric disorder.Research interests include psychiatric epidemiology/deviant behavior.Research interests include mental health and statistical issues.Research interests include health behavior and mental health issues.     

Sudden death due to congenital malformation of the left coronary artery: A case report

A case of sudden death during heavy exercise in a young athletic man due to a rare but well-known congenital coronary malformation is reported, and the main aspects concerning the condition are discussed.     

The PCL-R and violent recidivism in a prospective follow-up of a nationwide sample of female offenders

Psychopathy has been linked to violent reoffending in men, but the findings in women have been contradictory. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive validity of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) for violent recidivism in a nationwide sample of female violent offenders. The offenders (n = 48) had been assessed by the PCL-R and were followed after their release from prison or a psychiatric hospital. The average follow-up period was 8 years. Of the offenders, 16 (33%) had been reconvicted of a violent crime. Current findings of the performance indicators did not support the use of the PCL-R as a predictive instrument assessing risk of violent recidivism in females. The findings indicate that impulsivity plays a crucial role in female violent recidivism and that the PCL-R should be used with caution in risk assessment with female populations.     

Suicide of an adolescent girl with sodium nitrite ordered on the internet

Nitrites are commonly used in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Recently, they have been identified in cases of voluntary intoxication. We report the case of a 13-year-old girl who was found lifeless on her bed next to a glass containing a white powder and a bottle containing a white powder with a moistened appearance. External examination and autopsy revealed a nonspecific asphyxia syndrome, which was confirmed by the pathological analysis. Analysis of the samples revealed metoclopramide in the peripheral blood at a concentration of 0.402 mg/L (LC–HRMS). An analysis of the gastric contents was carried out after sodium nitrite was detected in the powders found near the body (Raman spectrometry). Nitrites were found in the gastric fluid at a concentration of 30.9 mg/L. Death occurred secondary to anoxia, following ingestion of nitrites; suicide kits are available on the web and nitrites are relatively easy to source and inexpensive. Nitrites are delivered in powder form to be dissolved in liquid, which may then be consumed with metoclopramide (or an alternative anti-emetic drug) to maximize absorption and reduce emesis. The toxic effect of nitrites lies in their oxidizing power, causing the transformation of hemoglobin into methemoglobin, which, when it accumulates, induces tissue anoxia resulting in death. There has been an alarming increase in the number of cases linked to suicide using nitrites or a nitrite suicide kit. The fact that nitrites are readily available online underscores the importance of establishing effective preventive measures such as limiting the access and use of this chemical.     

Consideration and Choice: Analyzing Party Choice in the Swedish European Election 2014

For a long time the question of to what extent party choice in the European Parliament (EP) elections is primarily dependent on voters’ orientations towards the European Union (EU) or just a mere reflection of orientations towards issues and actors in national politics has been debated. By combining insights from individual‐level models of party choice in second‐order elections with theories of sequential decision making this article investigates if, how and at what stages in the decision process attitudes to European integration matters for party choice. In line with previous work on first and second decision rule criteria in EP elections, this article develops and tests hypotheses about how voters’ orientations work at different stages of the voter decision process. The findings, based on Swedish data from a probability‐based three‐wave Internet campaign panel, indicate that many voters are in fact considering more than one party to vote for in the beginning of the election campaign. As expected, left‐right orientations function as a main decision rule with respect to which parties voters even consider voting for, while proximity on the European integration dimension mainly matters as a second decision rule in the final stage of the decision process. Using a sequential model with consideration and choice stages, the article reveals a much larger complimentary effect of EU proximity on party choice than has generally been found in previous research. This serves as a distinct contribution to the emerging research field of individual party choice in second‐order elections.