"Anxious suicidality": a new subtype of childhood suicide ideation?

The current study examined the presence of anxiety in children with suicide ideation. From a sample of 100 inpatients, children who displayed suicide ideation (n = 27) were selected and divided into two groups, high and low anxiety. Findings indicated that children with suicide ideation and anxiety were less happy and satisfied, experienced more negative life events, and were more distractible and intense than children with suicide ideation only. Additionally, according to their self-reports, parents of children with high anxiety reported more obsessive-compulsive and anxiety symptoms as well as greater hostility than parents of children with low anxiety. The authors have identified a subgroup of children with suicide ideation who are highly anxious and can be termed as experiencing "anxious suicidality."

Psychometric properties and clinical utility of the scale for suicide ideation with inpatient children.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI) for children. The SSI was administered to 100 children who were hospitalized. Data were not used from 13 subjects due to the presence of a psychotic disorder or IQ less than 70, leaving 87 participants. The SSI was examined regarding its internal consistency, concurrent validity, construct validity, and factor structure when used with children. Based on the findings, the SSI appears to have adequate psychometric properties and can be used by clinicians and researchers examining children in an inpatient setting. Recommendations for clinicians are included to help make the SSI more functional in use for children.

An examination of family functioning utilizing the circumplex model in psychiatrically hospitalized children with depression.

The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between childhood depression and family functioning. 11 children with depression and 11 children without depression were compared via scores on the adaptability and cohesion dimensions of the FACES-III-K. Children with depression reported significantly less cohesive and more disengaged (displaying emotional separateness and lack of closeness) families than children without depression. Cohesion (the emotional bonding and individual autonomy of family members), but not adaptability, appears to be an important factor in the relationship between family functioning and childhood depression. Clinicians are advised to use treatments designed to help alleviate low family cohesion for children with depression.

Characteristics of anger expression in depressed children.

OBJECTIVES: To examine anger expression styles in depressed and nondepressed children and to investigate whether the relation between depression and anger expression was mediated by family variables. METHOD: From a sample of 100 psychiatric inpatient children, 11 depressed children and 11 matched nondepressed psychiatric controls were compared on two self-report measures, the Pediatric Anger Expression Style and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-III-K. RESULTS: Depressed children reported significantly more difficulty maintaining cognitive control of their anger than did nondepressed children who were psychiatric inpatients. Family cohesion and adaptability were not found to have an effect on this relationship. No significant differences were found with respect to the tendency to deny or suppress anger or the tendency to express anger aggressively. CONCLUSIONS: Depressed children experienced more difficulties expressing their anger using a controlled/cognitive style than nondepressed (externalizing) children. The lack of a mediating role of family variables suggests that anger expression styles may be more related to the characteristics of depression in children, a finding that has clinical implications for addressing treatment of depressed children.