The Kessler Abbreviated Psychological Distress Scale (K6) in Canadian population surveys : Report on psychometric assessment practices and analysis of the performance of several reliability coefficients.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of Study 1 is to identify the psychometric assessment and reporting practices of authors who have analyzed data from the Kessler Abbreviated Psychological Distress Scale (K6), collected in Canadian population surveys. The goal of Study 2 is to compare the performance of six reliability coefficients estimated from K6 data. METHODS: In Study 1, 71 publications using the K6 were reviewed and synthesized using an analysis grid. In Study 2, analyses were performed to compare the performance of the alpha coefficient to five other reliability coefficients using data from the 2009-2010 and 2013-2014 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). Specifically, we estimated all six coefficient values, as well as their confidence intervals, regarding all respondents and respondent subgroups. RESULTS: Out of the 71 publications identified in Study 1, only nine reported a reliability coefficient drawn from their own sample. Even though no condition essential to use of the alpha coefficient was mentioned, it was the only coefficient presented. In Study 2, the values of all the other coefficients were found to be higher than those of the alpha coefficient. Significant variations were found in some respondent subgroups. CONCLUSION: Existing recommendations for the use of reliability coefficients are poorly implemented. It behooves authors to provide more information in their manuscripts, thereby enabling assessment of the psychometric qualities of the K6. The presentation of reliability coefficients for relevant subgroups and confidence intervals must also become standard practice, so that results can be more precisely interpreted.

[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.

Health behaviours, intentions and barriers to change among obesity classes I, II and III.

Health behaviour change is a cornerstone in the management of obesity, and data on health behaviours, intentions and barriers to change would be useful to inform the development of interventions. The aim of this study was to describe these variables in individuals with obesity, and to compare obesity classes. The study obtained data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2011-2012 including 5614 adults with body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg m-2 . The majority of participants reported eating four or more fruits and vegetables daily (65.3% [95% confidence interval {CI}: 64.1-66.6]), being a regular drinker (59.6% [95% CI: 58.4-61.0]) and inactive (58.0% [95% CI: 56.7-59.3]). About 84% of participants answered they should do and/or intend to do something in the next year to improve their health, with increasing exercise being the most reported choice (69.2% [95% CI: 67.1-71.5]). Among the 58.0% (95% CI: 55.9-60.2) of participants facing barriers to change, the lack of willpower was the most reported (37.0% [95% CI: 34.2-39.7]). No difference between classes for intention to change and barriers were found. Comorbidities were the most important factor explaining several health behaviours and barriers to change. The vast majority of participants, regardless of the severity of obesity, know they should do and also want to do something to improve their health, but faced a lack of willpower. Thus, the most important thing to consider during an obesity intervention is the lack of motivation to modify health behaviours and beyond BMI, the presence of comorbidities.

Trees, fungi and bacteria: tripartite metatranscriptomics of a root microbiome responding to soil contamination.

BACKGROUND: One method for rejuvenating land polluted with anthropogenic contaminants is through phytoremediation, the reclamation of land through the cultivation of specific crops. The capacity for phytoremediation crops, such as Salix spp., to tolerate and even flourish in contaminated soils relies on a highly complex and predominantly cryptic interacting community of microbial life. METHODS: Here, Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly were used to observe gene expression in washed Salix purpurea cv. 'Fish Creek' roots from trees pot grown in petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated or non-contaminated soil. All 189,849 assembled contigs were annotated without a priori assumption as to sequence origin and differential expression was assessed. RESULTS: The 839 contigs differentially expressed (DE) and annotated from S. purpurea revealed substantial increases in transcripts encoding abiotic stress response equipment, such as glutathione S-transferases, in roots of contaminated trees as well as the hallmarks of fungal interaction, such as SWEET2 (Sugars Will Eventually Be Exported Transporter). A total of 8252 DE transcripts were fungal in origin, with contamination conditions resulting in a community shift from Ascomycota to Basidiomycota genera. In response to contamination, 1745 Basidiomycota transcripts increased in abundance (the majority uniquely expressed in contaminated soil) including major monosaccharide transporter MST1, primary cell wall and lamella CAZy enzymes, and an ectomycorrhiza-upregulated exo-ß-1,3-glucanase (GH5). Additionally, 639 DE polycistronic transcripts from an uncharacterised Enterobacteriaceae species were uniformly in higher abundance in contamination conditions and comprised a wide spectrum of genes cryptic under laboratory conditions but considered putatively involved in eukaryotic interaction, biofilm formation and dioxygenase hydrocarbon degradation. CONCLUSIONS: Fungal gene expression, representing the majority of contigs assembled, suggests out-competition of white rot Ascomycota genera (dominated by Pyronema), a sometimes ectomycorrhizal (ECM) Ascomycota (Tuber) and ECM Basidiomycota (Hebeloma) by a poorly characterised putative ECM Basidiomycota due to contamination. Root and fungal expression involved transcripts encoding carbohydrate/amino acid (C/N) dialogue whereas bacterial gene expression included the apparatus necessary for biofilm interaction and direct reduction of contamination stress, a potential bacterial currency for a role in tripartite mutualism. Unmistakable within the metatranscriptome is the degree to which the landscape of rhizospheric biology, particularly the important but predominantly uncharacterised fungal genetics, is yet to be discovered.

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