Antecedents of Suicide among Youth Aged 11–15: A Multistate Mixed Methods Analysis

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth aged 11 to 15, taking over 5,500 lives from 2003 to 2014. Suicide among this age group is linked to risk factors such as mental health problems, family history of suicidal behavior, biological factors, family problems, and peer victimization and bullying. However, few studies have examined the frequency with which such problems occur among youth suicide decedents or the context in which decedents experience these risk factors and the complex interplay of risk that results in a decedent’s decision to take his/her own life. Data from a random sample of 482 youth (ages 11–15) suicide cases captured in the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2003 to 2014 were analyzed. The sample had fewer girls than boys (31 vs. 69?%) and comprised primarily White youth (79?%), but also African Americans (13?%), Asians (4?%), and youth of other races (4?%). Narrative data from coroner/medical examiner and law enforcement investigative reports were coded and analyzed to identify common behavioral patterns that preceded suicide. Emergent themes were quantified and examined using content and constant comparative analysis. Themes regarding antecedents across multiple levels of the social ecology emerged. Relationship problems, particularly with parents, were the most common suicide antecedent. Also, a pattern demonstrating a consistent progression toward suicidal behavior emerged from the data. Narratives indicated that youth were commonly exposed to one or more problems, often resulting in feelings of loneliness and burdensomeness, which progressed toward thoughts and sometimes plans for or attempts at suicide. Continued exposure to negative experiences and thoughts/plans about suicide, and/or self-injurious acts resulted in an acquired capacity to self-harm, eventually leading to suicide. These findings provide support for theories of suicidal behavior and highlight the importance of multi-level, comprehensive interventions that address individual cognitions and build social connectedness and support, as well as prevention strategies that increase awareness of the warning signs and symptoms of suicide, particularly among family members of at-risk youth.     

Who Needs Leaders the Most? The Interactive Effect of Leadership and Core Self-Evaluations on Commitment to Change in the Public Sector

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to shed light on an understudied topic in public administration, namely, commitment to organizational change. Specifically, this study examines the extent to which the quality of the relationship between employees and their managers positively influences employees’ commitment to change. Further, it investigates whether this relationship varies as a function of a person's core self-evaluations, that is, the valence of a person's self-regard. Evidence from a multivariate regression analysis in a public sector organization at the local level in the UK revealed that individuals who have high-quality relationships with their managers are more likely to be accepting of change; this is especially true for individuals with lower levels of core self-evaluations. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

The Trafficking in Persons Report: a game of risk

The State Department ranks countries on adherence to minimum standards set forth by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000. The Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) is updated annually and failure to enact changes to combat trafficking results in higher tier rankings. This paper evaluates the TIP by situating this tool in light of special features of the modern era, such as globalization and risk. Through a survey of the theoretical literature on risk and on trafficking risk factors, we devise six preliminary risk clusters and discuss how the TIP could incorporate governments’ response to trafficking risk factors into the ranking system. Our intentions are to spark debate about how risk factors could be incorporated in the TIP, to provide a preliminary model and to encourage further research in this area.     

Opening up government data for Big Data analysis and public benefit

Governments around the world are posting many thousands of their datasets on online portals. A major purpose of releasing this data is to drive innovation through Big Data analysis, as well as to promote government transparency and accountability. This article considers the benefits and risks of releasing government data as open data, and identifies the challenges the Australian government faces in releasing its data into the public domain. The Australian government has ambitious aims to release greater amounts of its data to the public. However, it is likely this task will prove difficult due to uncertainties surrounding the reliability of de-identification and the requirements of privacy law, as well as a public service culture which is yet to fully embrace the open data movement.     

When Internet protocols and legal provisions collide: Unauthorised access and Sierra v. Ritz

This case note article examines the unreported decision of a U.S. court in Sierra Corporate Design Inc. v. David Ritz (2007) District Court, County of Cass, State of North Dakota (File No. op-05-C-01660) which deals with the unauthorised use of a domain name system zone transfer. The court ruled that access was unauthorized given the defendant's intention to obtain and divulge information found in the zone transfer.     

Spillover Effects: Immigrant Policing and Government Skepticism in Matters of Health for Latinos

To what extent do people become less trusting of the government under threatening policy contexts? The authors find evidence that Secure Communities, a bureaucratic program that enhances immigrant policing through collaboration between local law and immigration enforcement agencies, spurs mistrust among Latinos but not non‐Latinos. This article focuses on the politics of immigration and health, two issue areas marked by large‐scale bureaucratic developments over the last 50 years. The authors argue that a major consequence of expanding immigrant policing is its trickle‐down effect on how individuals view public institutions charged with the provision of public goods, such as health information. The results indicate that Latinos in locales where immigrant policing is most intense express lower levels of trust in government as a source of health information. Through a policy feedback lens, the findings suggest that the state's deployment of immigrant policing conveys more widespread lessons about the trustworthiness of government .     

‘Us Girls Won’t Put One Another Away’: relations among Melbourne’s prostitute pickpockets, 1860–1920

Larceny from the person, or pickpocketing, was the most common form of indictable crime committed by female offenders in turn-of-the-century Melbourne. It was an offence particularly likely to appear within the criminal careers of recidivist female offenders. Female pickpocketing, however, was notoriously difficult to prosecute. The usual differences found in trial outcomes for men and women were exacerbated by the specific contexts in which such robberies occurred, that is in the context of solicitation or sex work. This not only meant victims were reluctant to prosecute, but that women’s offending often took place within criminal subcultures that fostered interpersonal relationships between women that served to support them throughout the commission of the crime and during the trial process.     

Potential Health Outcome and Vulnerability Indicators of Climate Change for Australia: Evidence for Policy Development

There is a growing need to develop health‐related indicators for climate change to assist in policy, planning, and evaluation of preventive measures. To date, no environmental health indicators of climate change have been developed specifically for Australia. We conducted a review of the Australian literature relevant to climate change health impacts to find out which exposure–response relationships could be readily used as indicators. The bulk of the literature relates to direct health‐related outcomes of extreme heat, and indirect outcomes associated with air pollution and infectious disease agents. Based on this information, evidence‐based indicators were chosen using the modified Driving force‐Pressure‐State‐Exposure‐Effect‐Action framework. Three groups of health outcome indicators are proposed: direct heat related, air pollution related, and climate‐sensitive infectious diseases. Indicators of human vulnerability to these outcomes are also included. The potential usefulness of and barriers to their use are discussed in the context of relevance for policy makers.     

The Grooved Pegboard Test as a Validity Indicator—a Study on Psychogenic Interference as a Confound in Performance Validity Research

This study was designed to replicate an earlier report on the link between low scores on the Grooved Pegboard test (GPB), invalid responding, and elevated self-reported psychiatric symptoms. A fixed battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 100 consecutively referred outpatients (M_Age?=?38.3, M_Education?=?13.6 years) following traumatic brain injury at a Midwestern academic medical center. Classification accuracy of GPB validity cutoffs was computed against a free-standing PVT and three composite measures of embedded validity indicators. Previously suggested GPB validity cutoffs (T?≤?29 in either hand) produced good combinations of sensitivity (0.25–0.55) and specificity (0.89–0.98) to psychometrically defined invalid performance. Raising the cutoff to T?≤?31 resulted in a reasonable trade-off between increased sensitivity (0.36–0.55) and decreased specificity (0.84–0.94). T?≤?31 in both hands was highly specific (0.93–0.98) to noncredible responding. GPB validity cutoffs were unrelated to psychiatric symptoms or injury severity. Failing PVTs based on forced choice recognition was associated with elevated self-reported depression, somatic concerns, and overall symptomatology. Low scores on the GPB are reliable indicators of noncredible responding. Self-reported emotional distress has a complex relationship with performance validity. Psychogenic interference is a potential mechanism behind PVT failures, and its expression is likely mediated by instrumentation and sampling artifacts. Further research on the topic is clearly needed to advance current understanding of psychogenic interference as a confound in cognitive testing.