Obesity stereotypes and anti fat attitudes influence the social behavior of middle school students according to a study presented last June at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Using a series of questionnaires and fat and thin silhouette figures, the researchers quizzed 176 boys and 141 girls between the ages of…

Data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents studied at two points in time are used to examine gender-specific influence of parent-youth closeness on youth's suicidal ideation and its variations by stages of adolescence and race or ethnicity. Logistic regression analyses yielded interesting findings: (a) Closeness with fathers…

Objectives: To examine suicidality among urban youth and its relationship to patterns of adult support. Methods: Study surveyed 879 adolescents. Suicide ideation and attempts, perceived adult support, family and formal network availability, and network activation were assessed. Results: Only half of those reporting a suicide attempt had spoken…

Although suicidal behavior is a serious public health problem, few effective treatments exist to treat this population. This article describes a new cognitive therapy intervention that has been developed for treating recent suicide attempters. The intervention is based on general principles of cognitive therapy and targets the automatic thoughts…

This article reviews and comments on the recent Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS) that found that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was less efficacious than fluoxetine alone and no more efficacious than pill placebo in the treatment of depression in adolescents. Adding CBT to fluoxetine, however, improved treatment response in…

This article presents information on treatment services received by women participating in an initial multistate evaluation of CASAWORKS families. Results indicated most women received services to address medical, employment, basic needs, alcohol and drug, family, and psychiatric problems during the first six months of the program. The clients…

The authors conducted a study of 5,472 university students to identify the prevalence and predictors of religious and spiritual concerns. Approximately 25% of the sample reported considerable distress related to such concerns. Logistic regression analyses revealed that students with considerable distress related to religious or spiritual concerns…

Purpose: In this study we evaluate outcomes of a community-based program to prevent suicide among elderly individuals aged 65 and older. Design and Methods: We used a quasi-experimental design with intervention and referent municipalities. The program included a 7-year implementation of depression screening with follow-up by general practitioners…

The objective of the study is to assess the relationships between personality traits, lifetime psychosocial functioning, and crime scene behavior. Thirty-five male offenders referred for forensic psychiatric assessment in Sweden (1996-2001) and assigned a main diagnosis of either antisocial personality disorder (APD) or autism spectrum disorder…

In this study predictors of serious suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth were examined. Three groups were compared: youth who reported no attempts, youth who reported attempts unrelated to their sexual orientation, and youth whose attempts were considered related to their sexual orientation. About one third of respondents…

Many risks for suicidal behavior, identified in population samples, are elevated in justice youth. We examined whether risks operate similarly in a justice sample. We measured suicidal behavior and disorder on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children in 991 randomly selected youths, and examined associations between demographic, offense, and…

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the differential effects of multi-types of maltreatment in an adolescent sample. Different combinations of maltreatment (emotional, sexual, physical, neglect) were examined in relation to both negative affect and externalizing symptoms in male and female youth. Method: One thousand four hundred…

This study addresses three questions about the population of children and families served in the highest level of care in the child welfare system in New York State residential treatment centers (RTCs): (1) How prevalent are emotional and behavioral problems in the youth entering RTCs? (2) Has the proportion of youth with such problems increased…

Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development, this study tested the hypothesis that family processes contribute more to adolescent adjustment than does family structure. Subjects for the study were 234 adolescents between 12 and 16 years old living in a stepfamily on a regular basis. This sample is a sub-sample of a representative…

This study was conducted to investigate attitudes that people hold about a hypothetical suicide victim in different situations. These situations depicted the victim in a scenario as either having cancer, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), schizophrenia, or a depressive disorder. An analysis was made to discern whether there were…