Culture and suicide : An exploration of the cultural factors involved in suicide

Many factors can contribute to suicide. The psychological drivers, however, are most examined. This focus on mental factors is supported by the global hegemony of the medical-psychiatric model. This is reflected in the global focus on preventing suicide by detecting and treating mental risk factors. Other factors that contribute to suicide, such as culture, receive less attention.

 

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Witchcraft beliefs around the world : An exploratory analysis

This paper presents a new global dataset on contemporary witchcraft beliefs and investigates their correlates. Witchcraft beliefs cut across socio-demographic groups but are less widespread among the more educated and economically secure. Country-level variation in the prevalence of witchcraft beliefs is systematically linked to a number of cultural, institutional, psychological, and socioeconomic characteristics.

 

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From living systematic reviews to meta-analytical research domains

Because of the rapidly increasing number of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses in many fields, there is an urgent need to step up from meta-analyses to higher levels of aggregation of outcomes of RCTs. Network meta-analyses and umbrella reviews allow higher levels of aggregation of RCT outcomes, but cannot adequately cover the evidence for a whole field.

 

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How to measure mental pain : a systematic review assessing measures of mental pain

Question Although mental pain is present in many mental disorders and is a predictor of suicide, it is rarely investigated in research or treated in care. A valid tool to measure it is a necessary first step towards better understanding, predicting and ultimately relieving this pain.

 

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Risk factors for suicide in adults : systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological autopsy studies

Question: Effective prevention of suicide requires a comprehensive understanding of risk factors.

 

Study selection and analysis: Five databases were systematically searched to identify psychological autopsy studies (published up to February 2022) that reported on risk factors for suicide mortality among adults in the general population. Effect sizes were pooled as odds ratios (ORs) using random-effects models for each risk factor examined in at least three independent samples.

 

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Validation of the Indonesian resilience evaluation scale in an undergraduate student population

Background: Psychological resilience is an important factor in coping with Potentially Traumatic Events (PTEs) and might mitigate the development of trauma-related disorders. Due to the high risk of natural disasters, criminal activity, and transportation accidents among the Indonesian population, it is critical to assess psychological resilience as a pro-tective factor. This study aimed to validate the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES) in Indonesian undergraduate students.

 

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To what extent do post-traumatic mental health and other problems reflect pre-existing problems? : Findings from the prospective comparative population-based VICTIMS-study

Background:

Findings from prospective studies question the assumption that mental health problems observed in traumatized adults mainly reflect the effects of potentially traumatic events.

 

Aims:

Aim of the present comparative prospective study is to clarify the extent to which victims of potentially traumatic events with mental health, social, financial, and/or legal problems, already suffered from such problems before these events.

 

Method:

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Unravelling psychiatric heterogeneity and predicting suicide attempts in women with trauma-related dissociation using artificial intelligence

Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death, and rates of attempted suicide have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The under-diagnosed psychiatric phenotype of dissociation is associated with elevated suicidal self-injury; however, it has largely been left out of attempts to predict and prevent suicide.

 

Objective: We designed an artificial intelligence approach to identify dissociative patients and predict prior suicide attempts in an unbiased, data-driven manner.

 

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Risk and protective factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic – findings from a pan-European study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a health emergency resulting in multiple stressors that may be related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

 

Objective: This study examined relationships between risk and protective factors, pandemic-related stressors, and PTSD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

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Effects of intensive trauma-focused treatment of individuals with both post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder

Background: Research indicates that intensive trauma-focused therapy can be effective in alleviating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, these studies have relied on self-report of BPD symptoms and follow-up data are scarce.

 

Objective: The purpose of this feasibility study was to determine the effects of an intensive trauma-focused treatment programme on the severity of PTSD and BPD symptoms and the diagnostic status up to a 12-month follow-up.

 

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