Suicide Ideation Among College Students Evidencing Subclinical Depression

Abstract

Identifying elevated suicide ideation in college students is a critical step in preventing suicide attempts and deaths by suicide on college campuses. Although suicide ideation may be most prominent in students with severe depression, this should not suggest that only students with severe depression experience significant risk factors for suicide. Objective: The purpose of these 3 studies was to explore the relation between suicide ideation and severity of depressive symptoms in college students. Participants: In each study a sample of college students were recruited for participation. Methods: Participants completed self-report assessments of depressive symptoms and suicide ideation. Results: The results of these studies suggest that although the greatest elevation in suicide ideation occurs at the highest depressive symptoms, significant suicide ideation is also experienced by college students with mild and moderate depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The implications of these findings for the assessment of suicide ideation are discussed.     

Revisiting the biological perspective in the use of biopsychosocial assessments in social work

ABSTRACT

The call for increased attention to the biopsychosocial perspective in social work practice is now decades old in the USA. And yet the challenge of teaching and learning from this perspective for those with limited background in biology calls for more inter-disciplinary examples to assist students with the process of engaging in theory-informed practice. In addition to identifying the key elements of human biology, this review of the literature focuses on four examples of client behaviors that receive little or no attention in most current textbooks on the inter-disciplinary nature of human behavior in the social environment; namely, the psychobiology of sleep, the sociobiology of eating, the neurobiology of post-partum depression, and the behavioral endocrinology of menopause. This review concludes with implications for practice.     

Friendsourcing Peer Support for Alzheimer’s Caregivers Using Facebook Social Media

ABSTRACT

This research piloted an e-health intervention that used social media to friendsource peer support for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) caregivers. Friendsourcing is a variant of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing recruits online participants who share a characteristic that makes their volunteerism meaningful when they join to achieve an outcome. Friendsourcing recruits online participants who share membership in a social network that makes their volunteerism meaningful when they join to achieve an outcome. This article introduces our friendsourcing intervention research and examines the effects on the psychological well-being of AD caregivers. After a 6-week intervention, caregivers were found to have significantly decreased burden (Z?=??2.01, p?<?.05) and perceived stress (Z?=??2.95, p?<?.01). Emotional and informational support scores were significantly increased (Z?=??2.32, p?<?.05). Qualitative data analysis of the intervention identified positive effects in new caregiving knowledge acquisition and application and reduced stress in the acceptance of the caregiving role. Joining social networks in support groups through friendsourcing was feasible for AD caregivers who were familiar with social media, and can provide another means of guiding the development of their personal support networks.     

Migration and mobility on the Amazon frontier

Migration patterns within tropical forest frontiers are highly complex and multidirectional, with movements to, from, and within these regions likely driven by different macro and micro factors. As such, several different conceptual models have been suggested to explain these dynamics. This paper uses data from a panel survey of households in a frontier region of the western Brazilian Amazon along with “second hand” reports on where people have moved to evaluate these conceptual models. Our rich data set, collected over nearly a decade from hundreds of households, allows us to compare households who arrived at different ages to assess predictions of the life cycle hypothesis; those who have been in the state (or on their properties) for different numbers of years to investigate the turnover hypothesis; those who arrived with different levels of capital to examine path dependence as suggested by conceptual models that focus on wealth dynamics; and the destination and purpose for moves from and within the study region to look for evidence of the frontier expansion hypothesis. We do not find any evidence for the turnover hypothesis, perhaps due to the favorable biophysical and market conditions in our study region. However, patterns in this region are consistent with all of the other conceptual models, reflecting the overlapping theoretical foundations of the models, and the complexity of migration and mobility on the frontier.     

Maternal Education, Birth Weight, and Infant Mortality in the United States

This research determines whether the observed decline in infant mortality with socioeconomic level, operationalized as maternal education (dichotomized as college or more, versus high school or less), is due to its “indirect” effect (operating through birth weight) and/or to its “direct” effect (independent of birth weight). The data used are the 2001 U.S. national African American, Mexican American, and European American birth cohorts by sex. The analysis explores the birth outcomes of infants undergoing normal and compromised fetal development separately by using covariate density defined mixture of logistic regressions (CDDmlr). Among normal births, mean birth weight increases significantly (by 27–108 g) with higher maternal education. Mortality declines significantly (by a factor of 0.40–0.96) through the direct effect of education. The indirect effect of education among normal births is small but significant in three cohorts. Furthermore, the indirect effect of maternal education tends to increase mortality despite improved birth weight. Among compromised births, education has small and inconsistent effects on birth weight and infant mortality. Overall, our results are consistent with the view that the decrease in infant death by socioeconomic level is not mediated by improved birth weight. Interventions targeting birth weight may not result in lower infant mortality.     

Periodisierung von Erfolgskomponenten zur Steuerung langfristiger Aufträge — Completed-Contract-Methode versus Percentage-of-Completion-Methode —

Zusammenfassung  Der Beitrag analysiert die Steuerung langfristiger Auftr?ge auf Basis eines dynamischen LEN-Modells. Zentraler Entscheidungstatbestand bei langfristigen Auftr?gen ist die Auswahl der Methode zur Erfassung langfristiger Auftr?ge. Grunds?tzlich kommen hierzu die Completed-Contract-Methode und die Percentage-of-Completion-Methode in Betracht, welche Gestaltungsspielr?ume bei der Periodisierung von Erfolgskomponenten er?ffnet. Die aktuelle Bedeutung dieser Fragestellung ergibt sich durch die für kapitalmarktorientierte, bisher HGB-bilanzierende Unternehmen seit dem Jahr 2005 vorgeschriebene Anwendung der IAS/IFRS. Die modelltheoretische Analyse zeigt, dass in der Partialbetrachtung der Steuerungswirkungen die Percentage-of-Completion-Methode der Completed-Contract-Methode überlegen ist. Somit ist bei langfristigen Auftr?gen zumindest aus Steuerungsgesichtspunkten der übergang von HGB zu IAS/IFRS positiv zu beurteilen.

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Accrual accounting for long-term construction contracts — Completed-contract-method versus percentage-of-completion-method —

Summary  We consider long-term construction contracts within the context of of a dynamic LEN-model. From a practical perspective, the percentage-of-completion method corresponds with the idea of accrual accounting, while the completed-contract method follows the realisation principle. We show that the percentage-of-completion method is superior to the completed-contract method in providing decision-influencing information. Also, determining the degree of completion via the input- or the output-oriented method follow as knife edge solutions to the principal’s problem. Thus, we conclude that the transition from German accounting rules to the IAS/IFRS is beneficial from an incentive perspective in the specific case of long-term construction contracts.

Für hilfreiche Kommentare danken wir einem anonymen Gutachter sowie Renate Hecker, Stephan Meisenzahl und Teilnehmern des VII. Symposiums zur ?konomischen Analyse der Unternehmung der GEABA, Bielefeld 2006.     

Game On: Diminishing Risks for Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescence Through Positive Involvement in Team Sports

While research shows that low levels of social acceptance and elevated body dissatisfaction increase risks for depressive symptoms among both girls and boys, little is known about protective factors that can mediate these risks. We test the hypothesis that positive team sports involvement mediates the effects of these risks on depression in a cross‐sectional study involving a diverse group of 449 Canadian students (49.7% girls) recruited from grades 8 to 10. Findings showed that positive team sports involvement partially mediated risks for depressive symptoms for both boys and girls. Implications for community‐ and school‐based sports programs are discussed.