Educating parents about youth suicide: knowledge, response to suicidal statements, attitudes, and intention to help

This study evaluated the video Youth Suicide: Recognising the Signs as a parent educational medium. Before and after viewing the video, parents (N = 112) of young people answered questionnaires measuring their (1) knowledge of suicidal signs, (2) responses to a young person showing suicidal signs, (3) attitude to suicide, and (4) intentionalitv toward suicidal people. After the video, parents' knowledge of suicidal signs, responses toward a suicidal person, and intention to help improved. Their attitude was more rejecting of suicide. Knowledge and intentionality predicted response to suicidal statements, but no relationships existed between attitude and the other variables. Implications for youth suicide education programs are discussed.

Children's eyewitness memory for a repeated event

OBJECTIVE

This study examined a significant issue for chronic sexual abuse investigations: Children's eyewitness testimony about repeated events. The few previous studies focused on preschoolers and none used the present methodology of presenting repeated events differing slightly in their details, as would happen in chronic abuse.

METHOD

One group of 6- to 7-year-olds played individually with an experimenter on one occasion; the other group experienced three such events, with some details remaining the same and others changing. In a phased interview, children were questioned about the initial event.

RESULTS

For details which stayed the same, the children who experienced three events had more accurate memories. They had poorer memories than the single-event group for details which were changed in the later events; however, this was due to interference errors, with errors of omission and commission being lower than in the single-event group. Children conveyed clearly that inappropriate touching did not occur.

CONCLUSIONS

Children who experience repeated events have increased recall for repeated details but confuse the timing of details which change across events. The findings support previous suggestions that (a) it is unrealistic to expect children to be able to report repeated events without some confusion about timing of details and (b) children are resistant to misleading questions about abuse.

Youth suicide: the knowledge and attitudes of Australian teachers and clergy

This is the first study of the suicide-related knowledge and attitudes of teachers and clergy in Australia. These professional groups have been identified as "gatekeepers" who might serve as a first line of assistance for distressed young people. Such gatekeepers, along with medical and mental health professionals, have a vital role to play in the prevention of youth suicide, of which Australia has the highest rates in the world. This research confirmed that high numbers of teachers and clergy have been approached by suicidal young persons. However, their gatekeeping role may be compromised by a low level of knowledge about signs of suicide risk, which was found even among those who had taken courses in suicide or death and dying or who had personally known someone who suicided. Suicidal behavior was found to be generally regarded as unacceptable, especially by those with a high religious commitment. Further educational efforts about suicide risk identification and prevention seem to be needed for both teachers and clergy; it will be important for such education to take into account attitudinal issues and how these might affect communication with young suicidal people.

The development of the Louis MACRO (Mother and Child Risk Observation) forms: assessing parent-infant-child risk in the presence of maternal mental illness

OBJECTIVE

The theoretical framework and psychometric properties of the MACRO (Mother and Child Risk Observation) 1 and 2 forms (age 0 to 4 year) are presented. The MACRO forms provide ratings on five domains--three related to parenting, two on infant (or child) characteristics and maternal mental state. Case vignettes illustrate their clinical utility.

METHOD

Ratings on the MACRO of 110 mother-infant and 85 mother-toddler consecutive admissions to a South Australian psychiatric in-patient mother-infant unit provided data on internal consistency, interrater, and test-retest reliability.

RESULTS

Internal consistency was between .79 and .95 for all MACRO domains. Item-total correlations were between .39 and .90 with the exception of one item. Social Support. Distributions of item scores indicated acceptable discrimination. Interrater reliability was .79 or above for all domains. Test-retest reliability after 7 days was .71 or above.

CONCLUSIONS

Preliminary psychometric investigations of the MACRO was favorable. Should further validity investigations prove satisfactory, the MACRO will provide a valuable clinical and research tool. The MACRO offers a convenient framework for assessing risk and interpreting the impact of maternal mental illness upon children within a context that permits consideration of factors such as illness severity, parenting practices, and child contribution to outcome.

The effect of nursing education and experience on attitudes to diabetes

The diabetes-related attitudes of 629 nurses working in South Australian hospitals were identified in a study using a questionnaire that included the revised Diabetes Attitudes Scale. Overall, the nurses' attitudes were appropriate; some were found to be related to levels of nursing education and others to nursing experience. There were significant differences between some attitudes held by nurses and previously reported attitudes of pre-registration nursing students. This study indicates that formal nursing education affects nurses' attitudes to diabetes and implications of the findings for inservice diabetes programs are discussed.

Changing students' attitudes to diabetes

In a cross-sectional study, the appropriateness of attitudes of first, second and third year undergraduate nursing students to seven aspects of diabetes care were measured using the revised Diabetes Attitude Scale. The aim of the research was to identify changes in the students' attitudes and to examine the relationship between attitudinal changes and the exposure of students to diabetes-related education. The study found that attitudes of graduating students to five aspects of the care of people with diabetes were significantly more appropriate than those of beginning students. It was concluded that exposure to diabetes education had been the major factor in engendering attitudes that underlie positive nursing approaches to the health care of people with diabetes.

Measuring diabetes-related attitudes: the use of a USA-developed instrument with Australian nurses

The revised Diabetes Attitudes Scale (DAS) was completed by nearly 1000 nurses and nursing students in South Australia. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the factor structure with that previously obtained in the USA with patients with diabetes. The instrument was found to be robust. It was concluded that only one item of the 50-item scale is unsuitable for inclusion in studies which aim to compare patient and health professional attitudes.

Assessment of peer relationships in children with asthma

Identified peer relationships in children with chronic illnesses as an important but neglected, research area. This study compared 21 children with asthma, ages 8-13, with 21 matched classroom controls on a number of measures of peer relationship adjustment, including both self-report and peer-report items. Overall, the children with asthma had peer relationships that were equivalent to those of their classmates, although they were seen as being sicker and missing more school. However, those children who experienced more hospitalizations were less preferred as playmates, perceived as more sensitive-isolated, and felt more lonely. Implications for intervention are considered, and the notion of asthma severity and its measurement is also discussed.

Success rates in testing monocular acuity and stereopsis in infants and young children

This study demonstrated how success in stereopsis and monocular acuity testing in the under-fives changes with age. Monocular testing was least successful with 1-2-year olds, while success with stereopsis testing increased linearly to 100% by 3 years. The differing patterns mean that a reasonable degree of success with one test or the other is likely whatever a child's age. Since the demonstration of either stereopsis or normal monocular acuities rules out the presence of any gross visual anomaly, the age-appropriate use of the two types of testing will facilitate the early detection of any abnormality.