Luc Dargis

Marital Functioning and Psychological Distress Among Older Couples Over an 18-Month Period

Many authors have underlined the existence of a negative association between marital functioning and psychological distress. However, little is known about the direction of this association over time among older couples. This study examined the relation over time between psychological distress and marital functioning among 394 community-dwelling couples. The authors conducted dyadic data analyses to determine whether marital functioning at baseline (T1) predicted psychological distress 18 months later (T2), and inversely. The results for women suggested that marital and psychological functioning may each predict the other. The results for men showed that marital problems lead to more psychological distress. The authors found some significant partner effects: In both genders, the marital functioning of one spouse influenced the marital functioning of the other. Mens marital functioning at baseline significantly predicted womens psychological distress at T2. The authors conducted analyses also to determine how 6 patterns of change in marital functioning between times were associated with changes in psychological distress, and inversely. Changes characterized by an increase in psychological distress over time in at least 1 spouse were associated with a decrease in marital functioning. These findings underlined the importance for clinicians and researchers to pay closer attention to the association between these variables.

The influence of health over time on psychological distress among older couples: the moderating role of marital functioning

This study examines the longitudinal links between self-rated health, chronic diseases, marital functioning and psychological distress over an 18-month period among a representative sample of 384 community-dwelling couples. The moderator role of marital functioning on the longitudinal association between physical health measurements and psychological distress will also be explored. Dyadic data analyses with structural equation modelling were performed. The results indicate that the number of chronic diseases and the level of marital functioning predict a significantly higher level of psychological distress for both men and women. Self-rated health significantly predicts psychological distress over time, but only among older women. No partner effects were found in the present study. Results show a significant moderator role for marital functioning on the longitudinal association between self-rated health and psychological distress among older women. This study underlines the importance of marital functioning and health status as predictors of further psychological distress among older couples.

Systematic comparison of recommendations for safe messaging about suicide in public communications

BACKGROUNDnThe diversity of guidelines for safe public messaging about suicide and the heterogeneous scientific research on the topic warrants comparisons of guidelines and analysis of the relevance of research findings to determine best practices.nnnMETHODSnWe searched databases and websites for organizations guidelines concerning safe public messaging on suicide, and relevant research articles.nnnRESULTSnWe identified 24 public messaging guidelines, 11 terminology guidelines and 44 research papers. No recommendations were in all guidelines, with more agreement on what not to do than on what to do. Recommendations in over half of guidelines are: avoid glorifying suicide, do not describe suicide methods, dont say suicide in inexplicable or explain simplistically, do not state that suicide is frequent in specific circumstances, encourage help seeking. There were disagreements on including personal details about people who died by suicide, and agreement to avoid: committed suicide, completed suicide, successful suicide, failed suicide/attempt unsuccessful suicide/attempt. Only died by suicide was recommended by a majority. Some recommended and some said to avoid: Suicide attempt, attempt to end his life, attempted suicide, non-fatal attempt at suicide, unintentional (death), intentional self-harm, suicidal ideation, completed suicide, survivor, suicide loss survivor. Research papers had a wide range of objectives, methodologies, media studied and target populations. None provided empirical data that could help support or refute any recommendations.nnnLIMITATIONSnLack of justifications for guidelines and scarce relevant research makes validation of recommendations challenging.nnnCONCLUSIONSnResearch is needed to validate recommendations and terminology and develop consensus on guidelines for public messages, and determine if media guidelines for reporting on suicide are relevant for public messaging whos goal is to inform and educate rather than report news.

Outcomes of Community-Based Suicide Prevention Approaches That Involve Reducing Access to Pesticides: A Systematic Literature Review

OBJECTIVEnPesticide ingestion is among the most commonly utilized means of suicide worldwide. Restricting access to pesticides at a local level is one strategy to address this major public health problem, but little is known about its effectiveness. We therefore conducted a systematic literature review to identify effective community-based suicide prevention approaches that involve restricting access to pesticides.nnnMETHODnWe searched Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PubMed for well-designed studies that reported on suicide-related outcomes (i.e., attempted or completed suicide).nnnRESULTSnWe identified only five studies that met our eligibility criteria (two randomized controlled trials, two studies with quasi-experimental designs, and one study with a before-and-after design). These studies tested different interventions: the introduction of nonpesticide agricultural management, providing central storage facilities for pesticides, distributing locked storage containers to households, and local insecticide bans. The only sufficiently powered study produced no evidence of the effectiveness of providing household storage containers. Three interventions showed some promise in reducing pesticide suicides or attempts, with certain caveats.nnnCONCLUSIONSnOur review identified three community interventions that show some promise for reducing pesticide suicides by restricting access to means, which will require replication in large, well-designed trials before they can be recommended.

The Darknet and suicide

CONTEXTnThe Internet contains both public content (Surface Web), and private content (Deep Web) sometimes hosted on exclusive networks (Darknets) only accessible using dedicated software such as TOR (The Onion Router). This software makes it almost impossible to identify its users. Information media have reported on suicide-related aspects of Darknets, for example when poisons that can be used to kill oneself are offered for sale (Le Garff etxa0al., 2016) when users discuss ways to kill oneself in anonymous forums (Ferrara, 2016; Franceschi-Bicchierai, 2015) and suicides that follow bullying or doxing (online divulgation without consent of intimate personal information) (Bartlett,xa02015). Several recent studies have analyzed the nature of suicide content on the Surface Web, but to date, there have been no systematic investigations of suicidal content available on Darknets.nnnOBJECTIVESnThe object was to document the nature and accessibility of suicide-related information available on the TOR Darknet or via the TOR software.nnnMETHODSnWe replicated the methodology used by Biddle etxa0al. (2008, 2016) in their studies of the Surface Web, using TOR on the Darknet. We identified and chose nine search engines used on the TOR Darknet: TORCH the TOR search engine, Notevil, Ahmia, Candle, Hidden Wiki, Darknet (onion.link), Duckduckgo and Grams. Two research assistants independently coded the first 30 results of searches using the keywords, suicide and suicide methods.nnnRESULTSnThere were 476 hits in the search for suicide and suicide method using TOR, with fewer sites dedicated to suicide (4%), compared to the Surface Web (23.1%) (Biddle etxa0al., 2016). Over half of the sites proposed by the TOR search engines (252, 52.9%) were outdated, inaccessible or not containing content pertinent to suicide or suicide methods. Several of the TOR search engines provided access to forums (chat boards) where suicide was a topic (70, 14.8%). These were usually pro-suicide, are blocked or filtered by most of the Surface Web engines (e.g. Google).nnnDISCUSSIONnPersons concerned with suicide prevention should conduct further investigations of pro-suicide forums that are accessible using TOR and their users, comparing them with the Surface Web. New strategies to prevent suicide may need to be developed for Darknets.

Dyadic Adjustment Scale: A Validation Study among Older French-Canadians Living in Relationships

L’objectif principal de cette étude est de décrire la structure factorielle et la validité de l’Échelle d’Ajustement Dyadique (ÉAD) chez 895 aînés canadiens francophones vivant en couple. Il s’agit de la première étude du genre réalisée auprès de cette population. Une analyse factorielle confirmatoire a été réalisée à partir de la modélisation d’équation structurale. Les résultats supportent le modèle hiérarchique du questionnaire de Spanier (1976). Les résultats montrent également des indices de validité et de fidélité satisfaisants mise à part pour la sous-échelle Expression Affective qui présente un coefficient Alpha de Cronbach plus faible. Les résultats indiquent également une bonne validité de l’échelle à partir des indices de validité convergente et discriminante. Enfin, une discussion abordant les considérations à prendre en compte pour l’utilisation du questionnaire chez les couples âgés est formulée. The principal objective of this study, the first of its kind to use this population, is to describe the factor analysis and validity of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (EAD) among 895 French Canadian seniors living as couples. A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling. Results support Spanier’s hierarchical model questionnaire (1976). Results also indicate evidence of validity and reliability satisfactorily set aside for the Affective Expression subscale having a lower Cronbach alpha coefficient. The results also indicate strong validity of the scale according to indices of convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, a discussion is presented addressing considerations to be taken into account for using the questionnaire among older couples.