Psychological autopsy of seventy high school suicides: Combined qualitative/quantitative approach.

OBJECTIVE: Suicide is the leading cause of death among Israeli youths but data on causes are scarce. This study used psychological autopsies of 70 Israeli school students who committed suicide during 2004-2011, attempting to determine the causes. METHODS: Four narratives of the self were identified (qualitative analysis) and compared (quantitative analysis): (1) regressive: functioning and mood deteriorated continuously (45%); (2) tragic: doing well until rapid decline around suicidal crisis (20%); (3) unstable: peaks and crises throughout life (20%); and (4) stable: long lasting state of adverse living circumstances (15%). Functioning, mental disorders, stressful life events and substance abuse were examined. RESULTS: A representative profile of the suicide-completer emerged. Suicidality in the tragic narrative involved shorter crisis, fewer risk factors and less psychopathology than the other narratives, also better general functioning and better school performance. Though decrease in functioning was evident in all groups, in the tragic group it tended to be disregarded. CONCLUSION: This study presents an in-depth analysis of a unique suicide population of high school students. A combined methodology of qualitative and quantitative analyses reveals a distinct subpopulation of suicidal adolescents with little or no overt psychopathology that poses a challenge to suicide prevention strategies.

Parent-child mediated learning interactions as determinants of cognitive modifiability: recent research and future directions.

The main objectives of this article are to describe the effects of mediated learning experience (MLE) strategies in mother-child interactions on the child's cognitive modifiability, the effects of distal factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, mother's intelligence, child's personality) on MLE interactions, and the effects of situational variables on MLE processes. Methodological aspects of measurement of MLE interactions and of cognitive modifiability, using a dynamic assessment approach, are discussed. Studies with infants showed that the quality of mother-infant MLE interactions predict later cognitive functioning and that MLE patterns and children's cognitive performance change as a result of intervention programs. Studies with preschool and school-aged children showed that MLE interactions predict cognitive modifiability and that distal factors predict MLE interactions but not the child's cognitive modifiability. The child's cognitive modifiability was predicted by MLE interactions in a structured but not in a free-play situation. Mediation for transcendence (e.g., teaching rules and generalizations) appeared to be the strongest predictor of children's cognitive modifiability. Discussion of future research includes the consideration of a holistic transactional approach, which refers to MLE processes, personality, and motivational-affective factors, the cultural context of mediation, perception of the whole family as a mediational unit, and the "mediational normative scripts."

Cognitive modifiability of adolescents with schizophrenia: a research note.

It is well documented that schizophrenic patients suffer from numerous cognitive defects. In a preliminary investigation, the Learning Potential Assessment Device was used under controlled conditions to examine the cognitive modifiability of institutionalized adolescent schizophrenics (N = 12) and a contrast group of adolescents with severe conduct disorders (N = 10). Feuerstein's theory of structural cognitive modifiability was thus applied in assessing potential for change. Results are encouraging in that there was evidence of the modifiability of the experimental subgroups of both the schizophrenic and conduct disorder groups.

Plastic surgery on children with Down syndrome: parents' perceptions of physical, personal, and social functioning.

Plastic facial surgery is being carried out on children with Down syndrome with the objective of improving these children's physical, personal, and social functioning. This study investigated the effect of such surgery on parents' perceptions, both of the current status of their children's functioning and of changes in this functioning. Perceptions of parents of children who had undergone this surgery in Israel in the years 1982 and 1983 were compared with perceptions of parents of children who had not undergone the operation. This comparison produced little evidence for the positive impact of the surgery on parents' perceptions of their children's physical, personal, and social functioning.

The development of ego identity at adolescence among Israeli Jews and Arabs.

The objective of this study was to investigate the development of ego identity (EI; E. H. Erikson [1968]Identity: Youth and Crisis, Norton, New York) among Israeli Jewish and Arab adolescents. The main hypothesis was that the discordant group membership of Israeli-Arabs is detrimental to the development of EI. Subjects were Israeli-Jewish (n=1329) and Israeli-Arab (n=780) students in Grades 10-12, randomly drawn from nine schools. The Adolescent Ego Identity Scale (AEIS; Tzuriel [1984] "Sex Role Typing, Religiousness, and Ego Identity of Israeli Jewish and Arab Teenagers, Unpublished manuscript, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; [1990] "Ego Identity Versus Identity Diffusion: Developmental and Educational Perspectives," Megamot:Behavior Research Quarterly, Vol. 32, pp. 484-509) was administered during regular classes time. A multivariate analysis of variance of Ethnic Group × Sex × Grade (2×2×3) performed on the six EI factors revealed that Arabs were higher than Jews on Solidity and Continuity, Commitment and Purposefulness, and Genuineness, but lower on Social Recognition, Meaningfulness-Alienation, and Physical Identity. Significant interactions of Ethnic Group × Sex on EI factors revealed that Arab girls were much higher than Arab boys on Commitment and Purposefulness, and on Solidity and Continuity, whereas in the Jewish group the sex differences were slighter or reversed. On Social Recognition, boys were higher than girls in both ethnic groups, but the gap was substantially higher among Arabs. On EI-Total Jewish boys were higher than the other subgroups, who scored almost equally. Significant interactions of Ethnic Group × Grade on two EI factors revealed a different developmental pattern for Jews and Arabs. Jews showed a gradual and slow increase from one grade to another on Solidity and Continuity with a steep decrease on Social Recognition. Arabs, in contrast showed relatively higher scores in Grades 10 and 12 than in Grade 11 on both factors. Sociocultural and situational interpretations were suggested to explain the results and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Suicidal tendencies and ego identity in adolescence.

Studies distinguishing between adolescent suicide attempters and others usually deal with demographic, physiological, or familial contributing factors. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between ego identity development and suicidal inclinations at adolescence. The main hypothesis was that ego identity formation at adolescence may serve as a "buffering" force by providing stability, continuity, meaningfulness, social recognition, commitment, and inner strength against suicidal attempts. Two groups of adolescents, a suicidal group (n = 10) recruited from mental health clinics and a normative group (n = 30), were matched for intelligence, demographic variables, and socioeconomic status. The Adolescent Ego Identity Scale (AEIS; Tzuriel, 1984) and the Israeli Index of Potential Suicide (IIPS) based on Zung's (1974) scale were administered to both groups. The results indicated that the normative group scored significantly higher than did the suicidal group on all but one of the AEIS factors and lower on the IIPS. A MANOVA carried out on ego identity factors revealed a significant overall difference between the two groups. Univariate analyses indicated that most of the ego identity factors differentiated between the two groups. Negative correlations between AEIS and IIPS were found in both groups, especially between total AEIS score and IIPS in the normative group (r = -.89, p less than .001). The findings in general confirm the "buffering" force hypothesis. These preliminary results are discussed in regard to theoretical and preventive aspects.

The assessment of analogical thinking modifiability among regular, special education, disadvantaged, and mentally retarded children.

The objectives of the current study were (a) to develop a measure of children's analogical thinking modifiability (CATM) based on the Feuerstein, Rand, and Hoffman (1979) theory of dynamic assessment of cognitive modifiability, (b) to compare the performance of groups assumed to be differentially modified by intervention, (c) to compare CATM performance with performance on a conventional test, and (d) to study qualitative changes after a learning process. Subjects were disadvantaged, regular, and special education kindergarten children (N = 140), and mentally retarded children (N = 20). The CATM was administered together with the Ravens Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) in a balanced order. Disadvantaged and regular children achieved higher gain scores than other groups in both none-or-all and partial credit methods (p less than .01). The MR and the special education groups showed small gains according to the none-or-all credit method; however, according to the partial credit method, the MR group showed high gains and the special education group a performance decrease. Performance scores on the CATM were higher than on the RCPM, especially in comparison to the B8-B12 items--differences reach a peak of 61% and 67% for the disadvantaged and regular groups, respectively. Qualitative analysis indicated that form mistakes were most resistant to change, whereas color mistakes were most easy to modify. Results were explained within Feuerstein's theoretical framework of cognitive modifiability. Impaired cognitive functions as well as analytic versus synthetic processes were suggested to explain group differences.