Insomnia symptoms, nightmares and suicidal ideation in a university sample

Previous research has demonstrated a link between insomnia symptoms, nightmares, and suicidal ideation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether insomnia symptoms and nightmares were related to suicidal ideation independent of each other. Further, the study aimed to determine whether suicidal ideation and nightmares were related with suicidal ideation independent of the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The study consisted of 583 undergraduate students at West Virginia University. Results indicated that both nightmares (beta = .054 (SE = .008), p \u3e .01) and insomnia symptoms (beta = .045 (SE = .009), p \u3e .01) were related to suicidal ideation, and this relation was independent of each other. However, nightmares (beta = .021 (SE = .008), p = .01), but not insomnia symptoms, were related with suicidal ideation independent of the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Implications, limitations and future directions are discussed

Experiences with grandparents and attitudes toward custodial grandparenting

The goals of the current study were to examine attitudes about custodial grandparents and to examine whether personal experiences with grandparents influenced those attitudes. Data were provided by 730 younger adults (mean age about 20 years) who completed surveys regarding their experiences with their own grandparents, attitudes toward custodial grandparenting, and openness to becoming a custodial grandparent in the future. Mean differences in attitudes as a function of experience did emerge. In addition, a mixed structural model showed that young adults who felt their grandparents helped to raise them perceived custodial grandparenting as less distressing, and it was these perceptions of distress that related to being more open to accepting the role of custodial grandparent themselves. Results are discussed in terms of changing norms and their relevance to policies affecting families

Effect of alcohol dose on deliberate self-harm in men and women

Objective: Nonexperimental survey and field research support the notion that alcohol use may be associated with deliberate self-harm (DSH) across the spectrum of lethality, from nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) through suicide. Nonexperimental studies, however, provide limited information about potential causal relationships between alcohol consumption and DSH. Two previous experiments showed that a relatively high-dose of alcohol increases the likelihood of engaging in DSH in men, with DSH defined by the self-administration of a painful shock (the self-aggression paradigm [SAP]; Berman & Walley, 2003; McCloskey & Berman, 2003). In this study, we examined whether (a) lower doses of alcohol also elicit DSH, (b) this effect occurs for women as well as men, and (c) individual differences in past nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) moderate alcohol\u27s effects on DSH. Method: Nonalcohol dependent men and women (N = 210) were assigned either to.00%,.05%,.075%, or.100% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) drink conditions and completed a self-rating scale of NSSI (the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory [DSHI]; Gratz, 2001). As in previous SAP studies, DSH was operationalized by shock setting behavior during a competitive reaction time (RT) game. Results: Overall, a greater proportion of participants in the.075% and.100% (but not.050%) alcohol conditions self-selected a painful shock to administer compared to participants in the placebo condition. NSSI predicted self-administration of painful shocks, but did not moderate the alcohol effect. Conclusions: Results provide experimental evidence to support the notion that interventions for self-harm should include processes to monitor and limit alcohol intake