Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Lester.
In this study of both high school and college students under 21 years of age, it was found that alcohol use and misuse was positively associated with depression, as expected, but also with self-esteem, opposite to what was expected. It was also found that alcohol use and misuse were associated with depression in college students 21 years of age and older.
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Suicide and homicide rates by age were analyzed for Canada and the United States, indicating that suicide is higher in Canada and that homicide is higher in the United States. Results indicated a positive association between homicide and suicide rates in the United States but these two rates of death were not significantly associated in Canada. Holinger (1987) had associated the relative size of the cohort to the rates of suicide and homicide in young people in the United States. The more current data in both countries did not support Holinger's results. Using the measure devised by Easterlin (1980) and Ahlburg and Schapiro (1984)-that is, the proportion of youths aged 15-24 relative to adults aged 25-64-the correlation between the size of the youth cohort and the suicide rate of youths aged 15-24 was negative. It is concluded that the two patterns in these two countries may be explained from a historical perspective.
A method is illustrated for studying the lives of suicidal individuals. Each of 15 theories of suicide is operationalized with 10 statements. These 150 statements are then rated as present or absent in the lives of 30 famous suicides for whom a biography is available. The theory of Aaron Beck is found to be most applicable to the suicidal lives and that of Sigmund Freud least applicable. A factor analysis has identified five clusters of theories; and the age, sex, national origin, era, and experience of loss are found to be associated with scores of the 30 suicides on the 15 theories.
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The study of the variation in societal suicide rates still is guided primarily by Durkheim's (1897) theory. He proposed primarily a social integration/regulation theory of suicide. One useful way of exploring this theory is from a cross-cultural perspective. Rates of birth, divorce, marriage, and unemployment were analyzed in comparison to rates of suicide from 1950 to 1985 in Canada and the United States. Results generally supported Durkheim's theory except for marriage. There was no association between marriage and suicide in Canada, whereas in the United States marriage had a protective effect once other variables were taken into account. Divorce rates were associated positively and birth rates associated negatively with suicide in both countries. Unemployment rates added little predictive power to suicide rates. A historical perspective and caution about overgeneralizing the results are presented.
An analysis of suicide rates in France from 1826 to 1913 indicated that suicide rates were lower during years of war than during years of peace. This effect was stronger for female suicide rates than for male suicide rates and seemed to hold both for major and minor wars.
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A meta-analysis of studies of suicidal behavior in patients with bipolar and unipolar affective disorders found two possible trends: an excess of subsequent completed suicide in unipolar patients and an excess of subsequent attempted suicide in bipolar patients. Suggestions were made for future research.
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The impact of war on marriage, divorce, and birth rates in the United States from 1933 to 1986 is explored. The author concludes that "the involvement of the nation in military activities was accompanied by a decrease in marriage and birth rates but not by any change in divorce rates. Mobilization of the armed forces and demobilization had no discernible impact on divorce, marriage or birth rates."
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.