Thoughts Of Death Research Articles

Do-re-mi Self Motivation in Breast Cancer Patients: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: In Indonesia, breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. It is important to motivate the patients to fight the disease and to adapt to the illness and the treatments. This active sense of motivation helps them to feel secure and keeps the thoughts of death at a safe distance. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the emotions that motivate breast cancer patients. The study was qualitative in nature. METHODS: This study involved 16 participants who were selected through purposive sampling at the Shelter House East Java Branch in Surabaya, Indonesia. The researchers used in-depth interviews to collect the data and the Colaizzi method was employed for the data analysis. RESULTS: Seven themes emerged from the data: Drive/Self-Motivation, respect yourself, precious self, facts of success, solutions taken to overcome problems, next strategy, and supportive situation. CONCLUSION: Positive attitudes and strategies that help breast cancer patients cope with their illness, include self-motivation, self-respect and valuing oneself, focusing on personal achievements, and seeking support, abbreviated as Do-re-mi. These findings could be used as self-talk content to develop self-affirmation strategies for breast cancer patients to help them accept their situation and reduce stress. The purpose of his study aims to explore self-motivation response of breast cancer clients. The type of research used in this study is a qualitative description.

Network analysis of eating disorder and depression symptoms among university students in the late stage of COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Eating disorders (EDs) and depression are common in university students, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to elucidate characteristics of EDs and depression symptoms networks among Chinese university students in the later stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. A total of 929 university students completed the SCOFF questionnaire measuring EDs and Patient Health Questionnaire with 9 items (PHQ-9) measuring depression in Guangzhou, China. The network model was applied to identify central symptoms, bridge symptoms, and important connections between SCOFF and PHQ-9 using R studio. The subgroup analyses of both genders in medical and non-medical students were further explored. In the networks of the whole sample, central symptoms included "Loss of control over eating" (EDs) and "Appetite changes" (depression). The bridge connections were between "Loss of control over eating" (EDs) and "Appetite changes" (depression), between "Deliberate vomiting" (EDs) and "Thoughts of death" (depression). "Appetite changes" (depression) and "Feeling of worthlessness" (depression) were central symptoms in both subgroups of medical and non-medical students. "Fatigue" (depression) was the central symptom in the female and medical students group. The edge between "Loss of control over eating" (EDs) and "Appetite changes" (depression) acted as a bridge in all subgroups. Social network approaches offered promising ways of further understanding the association between EDs and depression among university students during the pandemic of COVID-19 in China. Investigations targeting central and bridge symptoms would help to develop effective treatments for both EDs and depression for this population.

Suicidal ideation and its relationship with mental health reported by different informants among children aged 6–12

BackgroundSuicidal ideation in children has received less attention than in adolescents. This study aimed to explore the self-reported prevalence of suicidal ideation among children aged 6–12 and to identify the relationship between self-reported suicidal ideation and children's mental health reported by different informants in Chinese setting. MethodThe study sample was 1479 children aged 6–12 from three elementary schools in Tianjin. Children completed the Dominic Interactive to report their mental health and suicidal ideation. Parents and teachers completed the Socio-Demographic Questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). ResultsThe prevalence of suicidal thoughts and death thoughts was 18.05 % and 16.90 %, respectively. Parent reported emotional symptoms, ADHD, and externalized problems were associated with death thoughts, and ADHD was associated with suicidal thoughts. For teacher's reports, emotional symptoms, and impact were associated with death thoughts, and ADHD, peer problems, internalized problems, and internalized and externalized comorbidity were associated with suicidal thoughts. All of the children's self-reported mental health problems were associated with suicidal thoughts and death thoughts. LimitationsCausality cannot be inferred in a cross-sectional study. ConclusionSuicidal ideation is not uncommon in Chinese children. The relationships between mental health problems and suicidal ideation varied in different informants. Suicide prevention in young children should be enhanced, and screening for suicidal ideation is recommended at the onset of different informants who reported specific mental health problems.

Suicidality in the Arab World: Results from an Online Screener.

Suicide in the Arab World is grossly understudied. This study sought to understand suicidality among Arabic-speaking individuals visiting an online depression screener. A large sample (N = 23,201) from the Arab World was recruited online. 78.9% (n = 17,042) reported suicidality (thoughts of death or suicide, or a suicide attempt) and 12.4% reported a suicide attempt in the past 2weeks. Binary logistic regressions indicated that women tended to report more suicidality, and that suicidality tended to decline with age (all ps < 0.001), across all levels of suicidality. Comparing countries with n ≥ 1000 (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia), several 3-way (gender*age*country) and 2-way interactions indicated that some countries departed from the usual pattern of responses. For instance, in Algeria, neither gender nor age differences were observed in reported attempts. Women and younger adults in the Arab World may be at higher risk of suicidality. Differences between and within countries warrant further exploration.

Analysis of the Similar Characteristics in the Works of Dickinson and Bishop

Emily Dickinson and Elizabeth Bishop are both the most influential poets in western literary history. They both lived in a time of great change, and they both were seen as more silent than men. Dickinson lived a reclusive life until her death, she devoted almost her whole life to writing, and created 1775 poems in her lifetime. Her lonely life nourished her poetry, and despite frequent illness and unrequited affection, Dickinson’s relationship with poetry was inextricably inseparable. As for the modern American poet Bishop, she always shuttles between different countries in her life. This experience of displacement and migration is not only her pleasure, but also the source of her loneliness and pain. There are many similarities in the life and creation of Bishop and Dickinson, both of whom have experienced the misfortune of growing up, and both have doubts about the identity as poets and as women. This paper explores the similarities between the two poets’ creations and the causes from the aspects of time, physical condition and spiritual pursuit. The causes are their thoughts of life, death and female identity, as well as their pursuit of peace, which takes modern American poetry to a whole new level.

Threats and the conservative shift in public opinion: comparative causal mediation analyses from Turkey

ABSTRACT How do mortality reminders and aroused mortality fear affect people’s conservatism? Threats-politics studies assume that life-threatening dangers, fear of death, and conservatism go together, overlooking the distinction between threat exposure and mortality fear arousal. Further, these studies commonly fixate on the conventional threat of terrorism and predominantly employ samples from Western countries. Complementing past research, I use three survey experiments in Turkey to investigate the relationship between a broad array of threats (terrorism, health risks, moral hazards, and daily thoughts of death’s inevitability), mortality fear induced by the threats, and self-rated conservative orientation in a causal mediation analysis framework, using the terror management theory and non-representative Facebook samples (2018, 2020). The results reveal that the respondents receiving threatening stimuli (particularly terrorism mortality reminder) become less conservative as the mortality fear elevates. The length of mortality priming and the broader study context influence this indirect effect’s significance and replicability.

Text4Hope Effectiveness in Reducing Psychological Symptoms among Young Adults in Canada: Longitudinal and Naturalistic Controlled Program Evaluation

Chronic stress, anxiety, and depression are psychological problems that can hurt young adults, interfering with their everyday function, academic achievement, and interpersonal relationships. This study aimed to assess the impact of Text4Hope, an online mental health service, on the psychological well-being of young adults. This study adopted both longitudinal and naturalistic controlled trial designs. It examined clinical outcomes in young adult (≤26 years old) subscribers of Text4Hope who completed surveys at baseline and six weeks and compared clinical parameters in two groups of subscribers. The first group comprised the intervention group (IG) (young adult subscribers who received once-daily supportive text messages for six weeks and completed sixth-week evaluation measures between 26 April and 12 July 2020), and the second group was the control group (CG) (young adult subscribers who joined Text4Hope in the same time frame and completed a baseline survey and were yet to receive any text messages). The prevalence of moderate to high stress, anxiety, and depression was measured at baseline and six weeks in the longitudinal study and between the two groups for the naturalistic controlled study using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Inferential statistics, including the t-test, McNemar test, chi-square, and binary logistic regression analyses, were used to evaluate the differences in the prevalence and severity of the psychological symptoms. In the longitudinal study, of the 9214 subscribers to Text4Hope who completed the baseline survey, 1047 (11.4%) were identified as youth. For the young adult subscribers who completed both the baseline and sixth-week surveys (n = 114), a significant reduction in the prevalence of moderate to high stress (8%) and likely GAD (20%) from baseline to six weeks was reported. Similarly, there was a significant reduction in the mean scores on the PSS-10, GAD-7, and Composite Mental Health score but not the PHQ-9 from baseline to six weeks. The largest reduction in mean scores was for the GAD-7 scale (18.4%), with a small effect size overall. For the naturalistic study, the IG included 173 young adult subscribers of Text4Hope who completed the sixth-week survey compared to 92 subscribers in the CG who completed the baseline survey during the designated period. There was a significantly lower prevalence for likely Moderate Depressive Disorder (MDD) (25.2%) and suicidal thoughts/thoughts of self-harm (48.4%), with a small effect size in the IG compared to the CG. Similarly, lower mean scores were reported for all outcome variables in the IG compared to the CG, with a small to medium effect size. The receipt of daily supportive text messages for six weeks resulted in significantly lower odds of both likely GAD and experiencing thoughts of self-harm or death wish while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. The Text4Hope service is an effective tool for mental health support for young adult subscribers. Young adults receiving the service exhibited a reduction in psychological symptoms, including thoughts of self-harm or death wish. This population-level intervention program can be used to effectively support young adult mental health and in suicide prevention programs.

Exploring the stigmatisation of offending and non-offending paedophiles: a terror management approach

PurposePaedophilic individuals are a highly misunderstood and stigmatised group, with the general public tending to equate paedophilia with child sexual abuse. Given that paedophilia is often conflated as a psychiatric/mental health disorder and an extreme violent offence, the current study examined whether the stigma towards paedophilic individuals is related to negative associations with severe mental illness and extreme violence. The authors also used the terror management theory (TMT) to provide further insights into why paedophilia is so highly stigmatised.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 126 participants was split into one of six conditions and provided punitive and moral character judgements, as well as salience of death thoughts. Conditions were divided into three main stigma conditions (paedophilia vs schizophrenia vs homicidal ideation), which were further divided into two conditions (offending vs non-offending).FindingsResults showed that judgements were harsher in the offending conditions than the non-offending conditions. Results also showed that the stigmatisation of paedophilic and schizophrenic individuals may be mediated by terror management processes. These findings suggest that paedophilia is believed to be associated with severe forms of mental illness where an individual is not able to control their own state of mind.Research limitations/implicationsThus, addressing perceptions of dangerousness towards individuals with severe mental illness is a crucial step towards developing effective strategies to help reduce such stigma.Originality/valueAs one of the first studies to use TMT in this way, the current study provided much-needed insight into an important and under-researched area using available methods for such a sensitive topic.

Death, class, culture: giving meaning to mortality in Tehran

ABSTRACT This paper investigates attitudes towards death and the social factors that influence them among a sample of residents in Tehran, Iran. Using grounded theory and anchoring our analysis in the meaning of death (what people think happens after death), we were able to conceptualise three broad worldviews on death, which were then further refined into nine attitudes. Our research highlights socio-economic status as a factor potentially shaping people’s attitudes towards death. A large group of our respondents, mainly among less affluent groups, think about death daily, while many among the more affluent and the educated middle class prefer to avoid thoughts of death. Our study in a Muslim majority setting in the Middle East contributes to the existing literature on attitudes towards death by going beyond simple typologies, such as western versus eastern, traditional versus modern, religious versus secular, denial versus acceptance, to show that the diversity of attitudes towards death can both incorporate and transcend all of these dichotomies.

Acute COVID-19, the Lived Experience, and Lessons to Learn for Future Pandemics.

The study aimed to increase the understanding of the lived experience of patients during the acute phase of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. A Web-based survey was distributed through established patient and public engagement and involvement groups and networks, social media, and by means of word of mouth. The survey covered questions relating to patient demographics, COVID-19 diagnosis, symptom profile, and patient experience during acute COVID-19. The findings demonstrate the varying symptom profiles experienced by people in the acute stage of COVID-19 infection, with participants sharing how they managed care at home, and/or accessed medical advice. Findings also highlight themes that people were concerned with being unable to receive care and believed they needed to rely heavily on family, with extreme thoughts of death. Although the urgent threat to public health has been negated by efficacious vaccines and enhanced treatment strategies, there are key lessons from the lived experience of COVID-19 that should be used to prepare for future pandemics and public health emergencies.

The Stage Interpretation of Literary Themes in the Music of Benjamin Britten

Stage interpretation and adaptation of literary texts in the opera genre is a very complex phenomenon. Any musician undertaking this task will find himself/herself confronted with the problem that arises from the juxtaposition between the original text and its new version. Sometimes a composer and even a librettist has to transform the original text in a radical way to adapt it to its medium of music successfully. The present paper demonstrates the ways in which literary texts are interpreted in Benjamin Britten’s two famous operas Midnight Summer Dream and Death in Venice. An English composer and pianist, Benjamin Britten is an important figure in the history of the 20th century classic music. He is often regarded as a “father of English opera” whose multi-genre works are still popular today. The sources of Britten’s famous works are as diverse and versatile as the texts of Shakespeare, Thomas Mann, Guy de Maupassant, H. James, A. Tennyson, W. Blake, B. Johnson, J. Keats, Shelley, Coleridge, R. Burns, Th. Hardy and many other well-known authors. Shakespeare’s play Midnight Summer Dream is a source of Britten’s opera under the same title. First musical interpretations of this play date back to the 17th century, when a great English composer Henry Purcell composed an opera The Fairy Queen. This play became the source of inspiration for many composers. Britten composed Midnight Summer Dream in 1959. Directed by Britten himself, it was first staged on the 11th of June in 1960. Britten composed the opera without libretto - it was directly based on Shakespeare’s play. The composer made essential changes to the source text. These changes are especially evident in the first act. The main part of the first act was not included in the opera version. Unlike the play, the whole plot is set in the forest and, consequently, the functions and roles of the characters are completely changed. Like Shakespeare, who uses different poetic languages for his characters, Britten’s musical material is also divergent. We should especially mark out the figure of Oberon whose extraordinary character is easy to see in his musical party which was written for a countertenor. This helped to intensify Oberon’s magic and his sense as a weird character. Oberon’s party is a combination of contrasting, expressive and dramatic possibilities. On the one hand, it reminds us musical traditions of the past time and castrates who are simultaneously associated with power and femininity, on the other. The role of Titania is a powerful Soprano overshadowing Oberon both dramatically and musically at the beginning, but the balance is shifted in the third act. Titania’s phrases become simple and dull. As a matter of fact, the opera does not tackle the problems that are raised in Shakespeare’s play. Death in Venice is Britten’s last opera composed not very long before his death. Its central theme is death. The source of libretto is Thomas Mann’s novella Death in Venice. Britten attempted to create an English version of the German novella that is full of complex philosophical ideas. His Achenbach can be regarded as a very sensitive, reserved intellectual, English gentleman with deep thoughts of death and mysticism. As we have seen, Britten’s above-discussed works differ from the original texts of Shakespeare and Thomas Mann. They offer specific interpretations of the material in order to realize the composer’s intention. Consequently, they are moving away from their original sources and can be understood in different ways.

Does pandemic denial help or harm? Belief in and experience of COVID-19 as factors affecting psychological consequences of using neurotic defence mechanisms

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic may activate thoughts of death, leading to aversive psychological states. In such situations, defence mechanisms emerge; however, their adaptability depends on many factors. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between neurotic defence style and depressive symptoms. We assumed that the sense of coherence underlies this correlation and investigated how both believing (or not) in COVID-19 and having (or not) experience of this disease differentiate this mechanism. Methods: This cross-sectional study (N = 720) was conducted through an online panel. Results: For COVID-19 believers who had no experience of the disease, the higher their neurotic defence style, the lower their sense of coherence, which was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms. The same pattern was found for non-believers who have experienced COVID-19. In the group of individuals who believed and experienced COVID-19, the relationship between neurotic defence style and sense of coherence was non-significant. In turn, respondents who neither believed in nor have experienced COVID-19 displayed a positive relationship between neurotic defence style and sense of coherence. Discussion: Although self-deception strategies might be adaptive, they contribute to increased distress, if continued to be used once an individual confronts reality.

The facets of psychopathology in patients with cancer: Cross-sectional and longitudinal network analyses

ObjectiveCancer patients display heterogeneous psychopathology, comprising depressive, anxiety, hostility, and somatic symptoms. Often, clinical pictures evolve over time deteriorating the individual functioning and prognosis. Network models can reveal the relationships between symptoms, thus providing clinical insights. MethodThis study examined data of the Brief Symptom Inventory and the Distress Thermometer, from 1108 cancer outpatients. Gaussian Graphical Models were estimated using regularized and non-regularized Bayesian methods. In addition, we used community detection methods to identify the most relevant symptom groupings, and longitudinal network analyses on 515 participants to examine the connections between symptoms over three months. ResultsThe network models derived from baseline data suggested symptoms clustered into three main complexes (depression/anxiety, hostility, and somatic symptoms). Symptoms related to depression and hostility were highly connected with suicidal and death thoughts. Faintness, weakness, chest pain, and dyspnoea, among somatic symptoms, were more strongly connected with psychopathological features. Longitudinal analyses revealed that sadness, irritability, nervousness, and tension predicted each other. Panic and death thoughts predicted fearfulness and faintness. ConclusionsSomatic symptoms, sadness, irritability, chronic and acute anxiety interact between each other, shaping the heterogeneous clinical picture of distress in cancer. This study, strengthened by robust methods, is the first to employ longitudinal network analyses in cancer patients. Further studies should evaluate whether targeting specific symptoms might prevent the onset of chronic distress and improve clinical outcomes in cancer patients.

Evidencias psicométricas de la Escala de Ideación Suicida de Roberts en adolescentes peruanos

Suicidal ideation are thoughts related to death, with or without planning the place or the methods that would be used to kill oneself. Suicidal ideation has been shown to be more prevalent in adolescence, a crucial stage during human development. Identifying and intervening these problems is of utmost importance to prevent suicidal behaviors and the comorbidity of other psychological problems that can worsen the mental and physical health of the adolescent. A complementary tool in clinical practice or basic research are psychometric instruments that allow evaluating non-observable constructs in the field of psychology, for example, suicidal ideation. Therefore, the objective of the study was to present the sources of validity evidence based on the content, internal structure and in the relationship with other variables of the Roberts Suicidal Ideation Scale in Peruvian adolescents. The study has an instrumental and cross-sectional design. 399 adolescents residing in Lima participated, selected through convenience sampling and inclusion criteria: a) be between 10 and 19 years old, b) place of residence in Lima and c) have accepted informed consent. Adolescents who did not meet these criteria were excluded from the study. All participants answered three scales, which were: the Roberts Suicidal Ideation Scale, the Paykel Suicidal Ideation Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The last two scales have evidence of validity in the Peruvian adolescent population. In that sense, 237 (59.4 %) were women and 162 (40.6 %) were men. The mean age was 17.81 (SD = 1.03) in a range of 15 to 19 years. Likewise, additional questions were asked about suicidal behavior during the last 12 months, where 2.8 % considered seriously committing suicide, 2.5 % made suicide plans, and 2.5 % attempted suicide, but were unsuccessful. Regarding the results of the investigation. In principle, three Peruvian psychologists reviewed the content of the items and all considered that the items were representative and relevant to explain the construct. Likewise, through the modeling of structural equations, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to analyze the internal structure of the scale, where it was evidenced that the structure was essentially one-dimensional (CFI = .99; RMSEA = .04 [90 % CI; .00-.12], SRMR = .01, WRMR = .30) and presented factorial loads (λ) higher than .50. On the other hand, the internal consistency was acceptable ω = .84 [95 % CI: .81-.86] and reliability of the construct H = .94, showing that the items are homogeneous and coherent. The multigroup measurement invariance and its different conditions (configural, metric and strong) according to sex (women vs. men) and age (15 to 17 years vs. 18 to 19 years), was stable in the different restrictions and fulfilling the points of Suggested. Cut-off for the variation of the fit índices: (ΔCFI &lt; .01; ΔSRMR &lt; .03), showing that the internal structure of the instrument is the same for the sex and age groups. Finally, a positive relationship was found ( r = .35; p = .01) with another instrument that assesses suicidal ideation (thoughts of death, suicidal ideation and suicide attempt) and negative relationships with the positive dimension ( r = -.31; p = .01) and negative dimension ( r = -.25; p = .01) of self-esteem. All correlations had a minimal effect size. The research results suggest a one-dimensional factorial structure, adequate internal and construct consistency, coherent relationship with other variables and invariance according to sex and age. The findings allow us to conclude and recommend of the Roberts Suicidal Ideation Scale scores for the specific use in Peruvian adolescents and comparison of groups (sex and age) are reliable and adequate. https://doi.org/10.16888/interd.2023.40.1.10

Network analysis of anxiety and depression in the functionally impaired elderly.

Evidence from previous studies has confirmed that functionally impaired elderly individuals are susceptible to comorbid anxiety and depression. Network theory holds that the comorbidity emerges from interactions between anxiety and depression symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the fine-grained relationships among anxiety and depression symptoms in the functionally impaired elderly and identify central and bridge symptoms to provide potential targets for intervention of these two comorbid disorders. A total of 325 functionally impaired elderly individuals from five communities in Xi'an, China, were recruited for our investigation. The GAD-7 and PHQ-9 were used to measure anxiety and depression, respectively. SPSS 22.0 software was used for descriptive statistics, and R 4.1.1 software was used for network model construction, expected influence (EI) evaluation and bridge expected influence (BEI) evaluation. In the network, there were 35 edges (indicating partial correlations between symptoms) across the communities of anxiety and depression, among which the strongest edge was A1 "Nervousness or anxiety"-D2 "Depressed or sad mood." A2 "Uncontrollable worry" and D2 "Depressed or sad mood" had the highest EI values in the network, while A6 "Irritable" and D7 "Concentration difficulties" had the highest BEI values of their respective community. In the flow network, the strongest direct edge of D9 "Thoughts of death" was with D6 "Feeling of worthlessness." Complex fine-grained relationships exist between anxiety and depression in functionally impaired elderly individuals. "Uncontrollable worry," "depressed or sad mood," "irritable" and "concentration difficulties" are identified as the potential targets for intervention of anxiety and depression. Our study emphasizes the necessity of suicide prevention for functionally impaired elderly individuals, and the symptom "feeling of worthlessness" can be used as an effective target.

Validation of the Kriol and Belizean English Adaptation of the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale for Use With Adolescents in Belize

PurposeTo validate a culturally-adapted Kriol and Belizean English version of the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) through comparison with clinical diagnoses made using the Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. MethodsParticipants comprised of 256 adolescents aged 10-14 years and 15-19 years, who completed the adapted RCADS (10 depression items, 12 anxiety items) in one-on-one interviews, followed by a diagnostic assessment using Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia administered by trained clinicians. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, diagnostic odds ratios, area under the curve (AUC), and Youden’s Index were calculated for RCADS cutoffs and scores on the total scale and anxiety and depression subscales. ResultsFor adolescents aged 10-14 years (n = 161), the AUC was 0.72 for the full scale, 0.67 for anxiety subscale, and 0.76 for depression subscale. For adolescents aged 15-19 years (n = 95), the AUCs were 0.82, 0.77, and 0.83. Most depression items performed well in discriminating those with and without diagnoses. Separation anxiety items performed poorly. “Thoughts of death” were common even among adolescents not meeting diagnostic criteria. The RCADS depression subscale presented the strongest psychometric properties with adolescents aged 15-19 years (at cutoff of 13, sensitivity = 0.83, specificity = 0.77, positive predictive value = 0.47, negative predictive value = 0.95, odds ratio = 15.96). ConclusionThe adapted RCADS-22 had acceptable categorization for adolescents aged 10-14 years and excellent categorization for adolescents aged 15-19 years; therefore, the tool is recommended for use among the latter age group. Based on sensitivity and specificity values at different cutoffs, guidance is provided to select different thresholds to suit clinical, public health, or other uses to detect and quantify adolescent depression and anxiety in Belize.

Applying terror management theory as a framework to understand the impact of heightened mortality salience on children, adolescents, and their parents: A systematic review

Terror Management Theory (TMT) posits that controlling death anxiety is a driving force behind many aspects of social behavior. The objective in this systematic review was to explore how TMT is used to explain children’s, adolescents’, and parents’ behavior when exposed to situations that increase mortality salience. A systematic search identified 2484 papers; 14 studies met eligibility criteria. Key topics explored were mortality salience, death thoughts, and distal defenses. Findings indicate that adolescents comprehend death and have mortality salience reactions like adults, highlighting the potential for TMT to be used to explain children’s and adolescents’ social behavior in high-stress situations.

Going under Dr. Robot’s knife: the effects of robot anthropomorphism and mortality salience on attitudes toward autonomous robot surgeons

Objective This study sought to experimentally test two potential factors that could affect the consumer acceptance of autonomous robot surgeons: anthropomorphism and mortality salience. The study also investigated the effect of gender and its interaction with anthropomorphism on attitudes toward autonomous robot surgeons. Design and Main Outcome Measures A between-subjects experiment with a 2 (anthropomorphism: low vs. high) x 2 (mortality salience: no vs. yes) factorial design was conducted (N = 196). The trust in the autonomous surgical robot and the willingness to undergo autonomous robotic surgery served as the dependent variables. Results When death thoughts were not active, the human-likeness of the autonomous surgical robot significantly increased the trust in the robot and the willingness to undergo autonomous robotic surgery. Activating death thoughts did not further increase the positive attitudes toward the higher-anthropomorphic robot, while it significantly increased the trust in and the willingness to be operated on by the lower-anthropomorphic robot, rendering both robots comparable. This study also found that women had less positive attitudes toward the autonomous robot surgeon, regardless of the robot’s human-likeness. Conclusion Anthropomorphism and mortality salience can both positively affect the acceptance of autonomous robotic surgery but only in the absence of one another.

Discrepancies in suicide screenings: Results from an international study

BackgroundWhen screening for suicidality, clinicians usually ask questions in ascending order of severity. Clinicians often discontinue questioning after negative responses to the first question or questions, presuming that these individuals are unlikely to endorse any further suicidality. In this study, the accuracy of this presumption is evaluated in a large international sample. MethodsParticipants were 21,385 individuals reporting a suicide attempt in the past two weeks. Participants were recruited, primarily via Google Ads, to a quintilingual (English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and Russian) multinational depression and suicide screening study. ResultsExamining three initial screening questions (i.e., thoughts of death, wanting to die, and thinking about committing suicide), 14.8 % (n = 3179) of participants denied one or more question, 3.96 % (n = 847) denied two, and 1.95 % (n = 416) denied all three questions. The proportions of individuals with discrepant responses differed between linguistic-geographical groups, with Chinese and South Asian groups being more likely to be discrepant across all questions (all ps < .001). LimitationsSuicidality was assessed using an internet-based self-report measure, and linguistic-geographical groups explored in this study are very broad, which may limit generalizability. ConclusionsResults suggest that prematurely discontinuing suicide screening may fail to capture some individuals who made a recent attempt, and that in some groups, this discrepancy may be more pronounced. Clinicians should assess all individuals as thoroughly as possible regardless of initial responses, inquire about other significant risk factors, and be culturally sensitive.

An existential perspective on interpersonal closeness and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective The terror management health model proposes that COVID-19’s association with death should increase a desire for closeness, which could undermine social distancing intentions. Alternatively, social distancing intentions may increase if it has become culturally valued. The present research assessed these claims. Design We conducted three pre-registered online experiments (N = 409) where we manipulated COVID-19 thoughts, and examined either proximal (i.e. immediate) or distal (i.e. delayed) reactions. Main outcome measures Death-thought accessibility, desire for closeness, social distancing intentions, and measures concerning the perceived cultural value of social distancing. Results COVID-19 thoughts increased death-thought accessibility (Study 1). COVID-19-induced death thoughts increased a distal desire for closeness, particularly in securely attached individuals, but also increased the perceived value of, and intentions to engage in, social distancing (Studies 2 and 3). Conclusion Our findings demonstrate how proximal strategies may progress to distal strategies when they become embedded within cultural worldviews. These findings can aid in sustained efforts to encourage social distancing behavior.