[Assessment of the relevance of two questions regarding received diagnoses of mood and anxiety disorders in the Quebec population]. / Évaluation de la pertinence de deux questions relatives aux diagnostics reçus de trouble de l'humeur et d'anxiété au sein de la population québécoise.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to assess the relevance of two questions relating to received diagnoses of mood and anxiety disorders in the Quebec population. METHODS: The data analysed originate from three cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 2005, 2007-2008 and 2009-2010). Four respondent groups were created from two questions on mood and anxiety disorders: those reporting no disorders, a mood disorder, an anxiety disorder, or and both disorders. Four indicators measuring mental and general health are compared across groups. RESULTS: Results show a significant association between group membership and some indicators of mental and general health. The percentages of people having experienced a major depressive episode, significant psychological distress and perceived poor mental and general health increased with the number of diagnoses reported. Logistic regression analyses also confirm these results. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that the four groups created from the two questions render it possible to distinguish persons in terms of indicators measuring the mental and general health of the Quebec population. Convergence of results in all three cycles lends additional credence to the use of questions on received diagnoses of mood and anxiety disorders.

Pregnant women's social status, stress, self-esteem, and their infants' sex ratio at birth.

A reported association of social status of parents with infants' sex ratio at birth and of psychological stress (score on Beck Depression Inventory) with sex ratio were not supported by our analysis, but the possibility of an association between scores on the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale and sex ratio at birth for a sample of 385 pregnant women showed that women who have given birth to boys scored lower on self-esteem during pregnancy than those who have given birth to girls. Some explanations are reviewed to discuss this unforeseen association.

Attitudes toward the mentally ill in a sample of professionals working in a psychiatric hospital in Beijing (China).

The attitudes of psychiatric doctors and nurses toward the mentally ill in a large urban psychiatric hospital in China were compared using the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI). Data indicated that the attitude of professionals differed on 11 of the 40 questions of this instrument. Those questions are divided along 4 dimensions: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness and rehabilitation in the community. Results showed that psychiatric doctors have a more liberal and positive attitude toward the mentally ill than psychiatric nurses, especially about their rehabilitation in the community. Factor analysis also indicated that nurses were more likely than doctors to attribute negative characteristics to the mentally ill. Some explanations are proposed to explain these differences.

Paternal filicide: a study of 10 men.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the psychiatric and sociodemographic profiles of 10 men who killed 1 or more of their children. METHOD: Data were gathered from psychiatric, psychological, and criminological assessments found in the files of 10 filicidal men hospitalized at the Institut Philippe Pinel de Montréal between 1982 and 1994. RESULTS: Many situational factors were present during the period preceding the offence (such as the possibility of a separation or financial problems). Most of these homicides have been classified as pathological filicides. At the time of the offence, the most frequent diagnoses were mood disorders. Eight subjects had personality disorders, one-half of which were borderline personality disorders. Four men had psychotic symptoms at the time of the offence. Six of the 10 men also killed or attempted to kill their spouses. CONCLUSION: Many factors are involved in the dynamics of a filicidal situation. It is therefore difficult to identify specific warning signals for the prevention of this type of homicide. However, mental health professionals and the general population must be made aware of the importance of early assessment of possible filicidal tendencies when a man verbalizes delusional ideas about his child and/or if he manifests disorganized and bizarre behaviour.

Birth order and fratricidal behaviour in Canada.

In 1996, Sulloway suggested that older siblings would be more fratricidal than younger ones. In Canada from 1974 to 1955, data on fratricide and sororicide do not support this hypothesis.

Preference for sex of first child among women classified as androgynous and nonandrogynous.

This paper examined the relation between gender-role orientation and the preference for sex of firstborn child in 212 pregnant nulliparous women. The Bem Sex-role Inventory was used to assess gender-role orientation of participants. Analysis suggested that gender-role orientation, as measured does not effectively predict the preference for sex of firstborn child.

Parricide and violent crimes: a Canadian study.

Canadian data reveal a positive correlation between the rates for parricide and criminal violence from 1962 to 1985. These results run counter to Young's 1993 results and challenge Megargee's (1982) hypothesis according to which factors influencing violent crimes do not similarly affect intrafamilial violence.

Mental representations concerning the sex of the baby of pregnant nulliparous women who wished a boy or a girl.

The objective was to obtain the mental representations concerning the sex of the child of 125 nulliparous third- and fourth-mo. pregnant women who wished a boy or a girl, using Kelly's Repertory Grid. Our data indicate that the grid's average of the two groups of women is significantly different from 3 (the neutral point).

Mental representations of pregnant nulliparous women having no sex preference.

The objective was to elicit the mental representations about the sex of the future child of 89 nulliparous pregnant women who declared having no sex preference, using the Kelly's Repertory Grid. Analyses showed that 67% of these women had no explicit and clear representation about the sex of their first child. These data suggest that these pregnant women seemed really to have no sex preference.

[Infanticide committed by the mother]. / Homicide d'enfant commis par la mère.

Using data gathered at the Institut Philippe Pinel in Montréal, we shall describe the sociodemographic and psychiatric profile of a sample of 17 women who have killed (n = 14) or attempted to kill (n = 3) one of their children. Our data indicate that women who have committed this type of offence generally come from a disadvantaged socioeconomic environment. Most have a psychiatric history (evaluation and/or hospitalization). Review of the offence demonstrates that most women do not use a weapon to kill their child; the preferred methods are strangulation or drowning. Most of these offences may be classified as extended suicide or altruistic acts. Several of the women present with a severe personality disorder and an additional depressive episode in the context of the offence. We hope our study will help clarify understanding of filicide and assist in the development of certain prevention axes. These results indicate that the population at large and various intervenors in our society (family physicians, psychiatrists, criminologists, social workers, pediatricians, psychologists, gynecologists) must become increasingly vigilant and avoid trivialization of signals such as verbalization of homicidal thoughts about the child or recourse to certain disorganized behaviours.

[First child sex preferences of nonpregnant Canadian and Quebec women]. / Preference des femmes canadiennes et quebecoises non enceintes quant au sexe du premier enfant.

PIP: An analysis of data on 1797 nonpregnant women living in Canada who wanted a child some day and were not using contraceptives at the time of the fertility survey was conducted to determine their sex preference for their first child. 61.7% did not have a sex preference for their first child. Those who indicated a sex preference were more likely to prefer a son than a daughter (22.1% vs. 16.2%; p 0.01). When the researchers examined the data by province, they found that most Canadians had no sex preference for their first born child. Yet women from Quebec were more likely than those from the predominantly anglophone provinces to have no preference (67.8% vs. 59.3%; p 0.01). (67.8% is the highest percentage in the literature for no sex preference for a first child.) Women from anglophone provinces were more likely than Quebecoises to prefer a son (24.7% vs. 15.7%; p 0.01). They were also more likely to prefer a son than a daughter (24.7% vs. 16.1%; p 0.01), while the Quebecoises were more likely, albeit insignificantly, to prefer a daughter (16.5% vs. 15.7%). (This preference for daughters among nonpregnant women is the first in the literature.) These findings suggest that most Canadians do not have a sex preference for their first born and that Quebecoises are less likely to prefer a son for the first born than other Canadians.^ieng