Body mass and suicide risk

Body mass has been neglected as a possible predictor of suicidal behavior. The present investigation explores the association between body mass index and completed suicide. Data are from the National Mortality Followback Survey and refer to 373 suicides, and 518 deaths from motor vehicle accidents as controls. The results of a logistic regression analysis indicated that, for females, the greater the BMI the greater the suicide risk. However, this relationship did not hold up under controls for race and other covariates of BMI. For males, the BMI was not significantly related to suicide risk either at the bivariate or multivariate levels of analysis. The best predictors of suicide were living alone for females, and alcohol abuse for males.     

Current understandings of suicide survivor issues: research, practice, and plans. Report of the 1st International Suicide Postvention Seminar, September 8, 2006, Portoroz, Slovenia

The goals of the Postvention Taskforce of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) are to increase awareness of postvention and survivor issues. One of the strategies is to organize meetings. We report on the 1st International Suicide Postvention Seminar, held as a 1-day preevent at the 11th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior in Portoroz, Slovenia, September 2006. The seminar provided a state of the art review of the postvention field, with plenary presentations on research, psychotherapeutic care, development of national networks, and of postvention materials. We summarize the presentations below.     

Adolescent Daughters’ Romantic Competence: The Role of Divorce,Quality of Parenting,and Maternal Romantic History

This study examined the links between parental divorce, quality of maternal parenting, spousal relationships and middle adolescent romantic competence in 80 mother-adolescent daughter pairs (40 divorced). Mothers were asked to describe their attitudes and behaviors with regard to their daughters’ romantic behavior. In addition, mothers were interviewed about their own romantic experiences when they were at the age of their daughters. Adolescent girls (mean age = 16.98 years; range 16–18) were administered a comprehensive interview about romantic competence. Findings indicated that adolescent girls from divorced families showed lower levels of romantic competence, which were expressed in their behavior, attitudes toward relationships and skill in handling those relationships. Divorce was found to have had an adverse effect on girls’ romantic competence, whereas continued adaptive parenting and spousal relationships alleviated the effect of divorce. Mothers’ coherent representation of their own adolescent romantic experiences also alleviated the effect of divorce on daughters’ romantic behavior. Results show the important role of family relationships in fostering romantic competence among adolescent girls.     

Peer Selection and Socialization in Adolescent Depression: The Role of School Transitions

Previous studies have indicated homophily in depressive symptoms among adolescent friends, resulting from both peer selection and socialization processes. However, developmental differences and the role of school transitions in these processes have not been elucidated. A sample of 367 (51% female) adolescents was followed from 6th to 11th grade to investigate prospective relationships between adolescents’ and their friends’ depressive symptoms in middle school and in high school. Results revealed that students selected friends with similar levels of depressive symptoms after each school transition. Additionally, friends appeared to socialize adolescents to become more similar in depressive affect in late middle school years. These findings suggest normative selection effects after school transitions, followed by socialization effects in middle school, but not high school.     

Too Much of a Good Thing? How Breadth of Extracurricular Participation Relates to School-Related Affect and Academic Outcomes During Adolescence

Although adolescents often participate in multiple extracurricular activities, little research has examined how the breadth of activities in which an adolescent is involved relates to school-related affect and academic performance. Relying on a large, multi-ethnic sample (N = 864; 55.9% female), the current study investigated linear and non-linear relationships of 11th grade activity participation in four activity domains (academic/leadership groups, arts activities, clubs, and sports) to adolescents’ sense of belonging at school, academic engagement, and grade point average, contemporarily and in 12th grade. Results of multiple regression models revealed curvilinear relationships for sense of belonging at school in 11th and 12th grade, grade point average in 11th grade, and academic engagement in 12th grade. Adolescents who were moderately involved (i.e., in two domains) reported a greater sense of belonging at school in 11th and 12th grade, a higher grade point average in 11th grade, and greater academic engagement in 12th grade, relative to those who were more or less involved. Furthermore, adolescents’ sense of belonging at school in 11th grade mediated the relationship of domain participation in 11th grade to academic engagement in 12th grade. This study suggests that involvement in a moderate number of activity domains promotes positive school-related affect and greater academic performance. School policy implications and recommendations are discussed.     

猪水泡病病毒和科赛奇B_5病毒的比较电泳检查

科赛奇B_5病毒和猪水泡病病毒的纯化悬液是经过收获和细胞团块病毒的纯化制备的。用纯化的N和H抗原级份(完整颗粒和中空颗粒)进行交叉免疫电泳。曾计算了三株猪水泡病病毒(UKG 72、HK 71和Italy 66)和二株科赛奇B_5病毒(Faulkner和8068)N抗原级份的相对迁移速度(RMV)。科赛奇B_5病毒的标准株(Faulkner)具有与最先分离到的猪水泡病病毒株Italy 66几乎一致的低相对迁移速度。一株科赛奇B_5最近分离株(8068,1973在英国分离到的)具有与1972年在英国分离到的猪水泡病病毒UKG 72株十分近似的比较高的相对迁移速度。同样,猪水泡病病毒香港毒株(HK 71)也具有高相对迁移速度值。最后讨论了这些观察结果与猪水泡病的出现之间的联系。