Immunocognitive Model of Depression Secondary to Anxiety in Adolescents

There is evidence that anxiety precedes the onset of depression and that rumination contributes to this risk pathway in adolescence. This study examined inflammatory biomarkers as mediators in a risk model of depressive symptoms secondary to anxiety symptoms among adolescents who ruminate. A sample of 140 adolescents (52% female, 54% African American, 40% Caucasian, 6% biracial, mean age at T1?=?16.5 years, SD?=?1.2 years) provided blood samples on two visits (T1 and T2; mean time between T1 and T2?=?13.5 months, SD?=?5.9 months). Self-report anxiety, depression, and rumination measures were given at T1 and the depression measure was given again at a third visit (T3, mean months since T1?=?26.0 months, SD?=?9.0 months). Higher anxiety predicted more interleukin-6, but not more C-reactive protein, for adolescents with high levels of rumination. Moderated mediation analyses (N for analysis after removing cases with missing data and outliers?=?86) indicated that interleukin-6, but not C-reactive protein, at T2 mediated the relationship between anxiety symptoms at T1 and depressive symptoms at T3, conditional on rumination. Anxiety and rumination interacted such that, as rumination increased, anxiety predicted greater inflammation and depressive symptoms. These results demonstrate that established cognitive vulnerabilities for the development of depressive symptoms secondary to anxiety symptoms in adolescence might indirectly operate though biological mechanisms such as inflammation. In addition to highlighting risk factors and potential treatment targets for depression, this study suggests a potential biological mechanism underlying the effects of psychotherapies that reduce rumination on negative affect (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy).     

Resources, Group Conflict and Symbols: Explaining Anti-Immigration Hostility in Britain

This article analyses the causes of variation in attitudes to immigration policy in the UK. The key theoretical approaches emphasised are: the role of self-interest; group conflict over resources; and group conflict over important symbols of Britishness. The connection between perceptions of immigration and crime is also investigated. Based on the 2003 British Social Attitudes Survey, the findings indicate that self-interest has very little bearing on opposition to immigration and that British citizens instead appear to be most concerned with threats to ingroup resources posed by immigration, threats to the shared customs and traditions of British society (particularly those posed by Muslims) and – to a lesser extent – the potential for increased crime that may result from immigration.     

Police officers who commit suicide by cop: a clinical study with analysis

Suicide by cop has become a familiar topic among members of law enforcement, mental health professionals, and the general public. This paper presents two cases where police officers chose to commit suicide by getting other police officers to kill them. The two police officers studied, by examination of closed case files, were found to be similar to civilians who committed suicide by cop on several demographic (gender, age, history of mental illness, and suicide attempts), and situational (stress factors, trigger) variables. The cases help us to understand possible motives and management for individuals who choose to end their life in this manner.     

UNCROC and the prevention of childhood obesity: the right not to have food advertisements on television

This article discusses how legal rights-based discourse could inform the response of Australian State and federal governments to the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. The authors contend that the principles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (a treaty which has been ratified but not implemented) are capable of providing a basis for a legislative program to prevent childhood obesity. It is argued that an approach to legislation which is grounded on the basis of children's rights would require that there be restrictions on advertising food to children. The authors set out specific proposals for legislative reforms which the federal Parliament could enact to implement the Convention so as to restrict advertising to children. The scope of the discussion is then expanded to consider the implications of rights-based discourse in broader public health contexts.     

Fighting Housing Discrimination in Europe

ABSTRACT

There is no exact European equivalent to the U.S. Fair Housing Act. The member states of the European Union (EU) have transposed into law the EU Racial Equality Directive of 2000 that prohibits discrimination in, among other things, access to the supply of goods and services, including housing, on the basis of race. Most housing discrimination case law so far comes from nonbinding decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and European Committee of Social Rights under the revised European Social Charter of the Council of Europe. This article explains how the European context of discrimination and segregation differs from the American, reviews the major legal conventions establishing equal rights in housing, protected classes, and key precedents. It discusses how mixing policies in social housing are the primary mechanism to reduce residential segregation in Europe. The special case of extreme discrimination against the Roma is presented, before concluding with some comparative observations.