Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H Aro.
The approach of developmental psychopathology is presented, and developmental research on the role of sex differences and protective factors in depression is reviewed. Results from our own study on family stress, protective factors and depression are presented as an example.
The occurrence of recent life events during the last 3 months, and social support received were studied in a nationwide suicide population (N = 1,067) in Finland. Recent life events were reported in 80% of the suicides. Job problems (28%), family discord (23%), somatic illness (22%), financial trouble (18%), unemployment (16%), separation (14%), death (13%) and illness in family (12%) were the most common life events. Sex differences were found in recent life events: any life event, separation, financial trouble, job problems and unemployment were more common among males. The mean number of life events was also higher among males. Living alone was more common among female victims. Females had children more often than males. In terms of friendships, more females had a close friend, whereas more males had friends sharing common interests. Females had complained of loneliness more often than males. Those females who had lived alone had encountered a recent death more often than other females. The male victims who had lived alone had experienced separation, financial trouble and unemployment during the last 3 months more frequently than other males, suggesting a concurrent stressor effect of these recent life events with living alone in male suicides.
The significance of a child's age at parents' divorce on later well-being was studied. In a population-based follow-up study from age 16 to 22, children who had experienced parental divorce before school age (n = 134), in latency at age 7 to 12 (n = 129), and in adolescence at age 13 to 16 (n = 71) were compared. In young adulthood, 24% of the boys who had experienced parental divorce in latency were depressive as compared with 9% and 6% in the other two groups, respectively. Interpersonal problems in adolescence predicted depression in young adulthood especially in the group of latency-aged boys. Among girls, depression was independent of the timing of parental divorce.
In a conceptual framework of suicide process, literature on life events and social support in suicide is reviewed. Few studies have centered on these issues, and the existing research has many methodological ambiguities. However, it can be concluded that life events play an important role in suicide process as risk and precipitating factors. The findings on disintegration of social networks and poor social support indicate lack of protective factors. Implications for future research are discussed. Further research focusing on more specific questions on the role of life events and social support as well as their interactions is needed.
The occurrence of recent life events during the last 3 months and their significance in the suicide process as subjectively perceived by the surviving partners were studied among a subpopulation of suicide victims (n = 400) who had a spouse or a cohabitant as the informant. This subpopulation was drawn from a total suicide population (n = 1397) of 1 year in Finland. According to the partners' reports, life events during the last 3 months were reported in 85% of the suicides. Job problems (33%), family discord (32%) and somatic illness (29%) were most commonly reported. More male than female victims had experienced recent life events, and the mean number of events was higher among men than among women. There were differences between single life events in terms of how often the partners perceived them as precipitants of suicide. Separation was seen as the most critical event: in 68% of suicides with reported separation during the last 3 months the partner also rated it as a precipitant, followed by somatic illness in 57%, family discord in 44%, financial trouble in 44%, unemployment in 34%, death in 29%, job problems in 19% and illness in family in 14%.
All suicides (n = 1397) in Finland during 1 year were studied by thorough interviews with the surviving next of kin. We included 388 suicides after which a spouse's or a cohabiting partner's subjective views of precipitant stressors in suicide process during the last 3 months and earlier in life were determined. In 82% of the cases the partner considered life events as precipitant stressors for the suicide. Among men, the most common stressors considered as suicide precipitants were somatic illness (25%), interpersonal discord (22%) and separation (14%). Among women these were mental disorder (28%), interpersonal discord (18%) and death of a significant other (17%). Somatic illness and retirement were more commonly considered as precipitants among older men, whereas interpersonal discord, separation and financial trouble were more common among younger men. Among women, job problems were more commonly considered as precipitants for younger subjects. Among both sexes, childhood adversity was more commonly reported among the younger subjects.
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The role of family, friends and confidants in mediating the impact of adverse life events on psychosomatic symptoms in mid-adolescence was studied. School children (n = 2013) completed questionnaires in class on three occasions during 17 months. Data about social support and life events for 12 months were gathered retrospectively in the final questionnaire. The differences in symptoms by life events and social support were already present at the beginning of the study. Those adolescents who had experienced adverse life events and reported a poor relationship with one or both parents had the highest levels of symptoms and the greatest increase in symptoms during the follow-up. Lack of friends was also associated with psychosomatic symptoms, especially among those who had experienced adverse life events. The results suggest that adolescents who lack parental or peer support are at risk for psychosomatic symptoms in general, and especially in the face of stressful life events.
An experimental model of fracture-healing was used to study the production of types-I and II collagen by in situ hybridization. The distribution of cartilage matrix in callus was determined by histochemical staining. Messenger RNA (mRNA) for cartilage-specific type-II collagen was detectable as early as the fifth day in a small number of cells that had acquired a chondrocyte phenotype but that also contained type-I collagen mRNA, suggesting an ongoing change in the expression of collagen genes. The location of the first chondrocytes, which were adjacent to cortical bone, suggested that they originated from cells that had derived from the periosteum by differentiation. On the seventh day of callus formation, the presence of both type-I and type-II collagen mRNA in chondrocytes of expanding cartilage suggested that most growth occurred by differentiation of mesenchymal cells and less by proliferation of differentiated chondrocytes. Expansion continued until the tenth to fourteenth day, after which the cartilage was replaced by woven bone. This was characterized by the presence of osteoblasts that were active in the synthesis of type-I collagen.
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The impact of parental discord and divorce on adolescent well-being and behaviour was studied. School children (n = 2194) aged 15 to 16 completed questionnaires in the class-room. Children in divorced families and in families of discord experienced more distress symptoms than children in intact families. Lower school performance was associated with divorce, but not with parental discord. Sex differences were found in self-esteem: girls in divorced families reported the lowest self-esteem, whereas boys in families of discord reported lower self-esteem than boys in the other groups. Group differences in reported self-image were small. Compared with children in intact families, the observed differences were in girls mainly in the divorced group and in boys in the group of marital discord. In both sexes abundant alcohol use and in boys delinquent acts were more common in families of discord or divorce than in intact families.
The development of ectopic ossification in experimental myositis ossificans of the rabbit thigh was studied. The right hind limb of 25 rabbits was immobilized with the knee in extension. Once a day the limb was passively mobilized for 2-3 minutes. The animals were killed 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days after the beginning of the experiment. Specimens for light and electron microscopy were obtained from both hind limbs. Extensive necrosis and fibrosis were observed in the right vastus intermedius muscle during the first week. Proliferation of chondrocytes and osteoblasts with newly formed woven bone and cartilage formation were found in the periosteum within 7 and 14 days after the beginning of the experiment. Intensive enchondral ossification and hard calcified tissue were observed later. It was evident that bone formation in this experimental model started in the periosteum after necrosis of the adjacent skeletal muscle. Therefore the temporal and spatial relationship of traumatic changes in the periosteum and muscle seems important for the development of myositis ossificans.
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Conservative management of 166 Colles' fractures was associated with a 12% rate of late compression neuropathies (mean follow-up period, 28 months). Compression of the median nerve (8%) was twice as common as ulnar nerve compression (4%). Eighty-five percent of the patients with median nerve compression had malunion with radial collapse with or without other deformities (dorsal angulation/radial displacement). Patients with ulnar nerve compression had either malunion with radial collapse or volar subluxation of the ulnar head in those fractures that healed with dorsal angulation. Patients without nerve complications showed a significantly lower rate of malunions. These results demonstrate that anatomic derangements play a role in the development of late compression neuropathies following Colles' fractures.
An experimental fracture healing model in the rat tibio-fibular bone was employed to study the appearance of messenger RNAs for types I, II and III collagens during endochondral fracture repair. Total RNA was extracted from normal bone and from callus tissue at various time points. The total RNAs were analyzed in Northern hybridization for their contents of procollagen mRNAs using specific cDNA clones. The results show that during the first week of fracture repair type III collagen mRNA is increased to the greatest extent, followed by type II collagen mRNA during the second week. The 28-day callus resembles bone by containing mainly type I collagen mRNAs and very little type II or III collagen mRNA.
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