| 1. |
- Caldera, Trinidad, et al.
(författare)
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Parasuicide in a low income country : results from a three year hospital surveillance in Nicaragua.
- 2004
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - 1403-4948. ; 32:5, s. 349-355
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: A study was undertaken to assess the incidence of parasuicide in Nicaragua, to identify groups at risk, and to describe the characteristics of parasuicides, such as methods used and seasonal and diurnal patterns. Method: All hospital-admitted parasuicide cases in the area of León, Nicaragua, were assessed over a three-year period using standardized instruments. Results: Two hundred and thirty-three parasuicide cases were identified in the catchment area giving a parasuicide rate of 66.3/100,000 inhabitants per year based on the population 10 years and older. Corresponding figure for 15 years and older was 71.3. A majority were females (68.8%), who were significantly younger than the males (mean 20.8 years vs. mean 24.6 years). The highest rates were found in the age group 15 - 19 years with a female rate three times higher than the male rate (302.9 vs. 98.9). Pesticides, a highly lethal substance, were used as method in 19.1% of the attempts. Consistent seasonal variation with peaks in May - June and September - October were found over the years. Among parasuicide cases, 46.5% had been in contact with the healthcare system within 6 months before attempting suicide. Conclusions: Parasuicides represent a significant health problem among young people in Nicaragua. Preventive efforts should be directed especially towards the life situation for young girls, limitation of availability of suicide means, increased awareness in schools concerning suicidal problems, as well as improved management of patients with mental health problems within primary healthcare.
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| 2. |
- Herrera Rodríguez, Andrés, et al.
(författare)
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Pathways to suicidal behaviour among adolescent girls in Nicaragua
- 2006
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Ingår i: Social Science and Medicine. - 0277-9536. ; 62:4, s. 805-814
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adolescent girls are the most frequent suicide attempters worldwide. However, there is little knowledge about pathways leading to suicidal behaviour among young people, in particular in low-income countries. This study explores the motives and processes related to suicidal behaviour among young girls in Nicaragua. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with eight girls aged between 12 and 19 admitted to hospital after attempting suicide. The audio-taped interviews lasted 2–4 h and were transcribed, translated into English and coded for content. Grounded theory and content analysis were used to construct a theory of the mechanisms behind their suicidal behaviour.A tentative model exploring pathways to suicidal behaviour is described with four main categories: structuring conditions, triggering events, emotions and actions taken. The model illustrates the dialectic interplay between structure and actions taken. Actions taken were categorized as problem solving or various forms of escape where failure with either of these strategies resulted in a suicide attempt.Dysfunctional families, absent fathers and lack of integration into society were some of the structuring conditions that lead to emotional distress. Abuse, deaths in the family, break-up with boyfriends or suicide among friends acted as triggering events. A striking finding was the obvious narrative competence of the girls.Our findings indicate that suicide prevention programmes for young people must offer support from professionals, independent of their family and social networks. Institutions in the community in contact with young people with suicidal behaviour must develop communicative skills to offer a trusting environment mobilising the resources that young people have.
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| 3. |
- Obando Medina, Claudia, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Suicidal expression in adolescents in Nicaragua in relation to youth self-report (YSR) syndromes and exposure to suicide
- 2011
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Ingår i: Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health. - Bentham Open. - 1745-0179. ; 7, s. 89-96
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Suicide and suicidal expressions among young people represent a major public health problem worldwide. Most studies are from high-income countries, and it remains unclear whether prevalence and risk factors show a similar pattern in other settings. This study aims to assess the prevalence of suicidal expressions and serious suicidal expressions (ideation, plans and attempts) among adolescents in Nicaragua, in relation to previously reported risk factors, such as exposure to suicide in significant others (parents, siblings, partners or friends) and mental health problems.Methods: 368 adolescents aged 15-18 years were randomly selected from public secondary schools in León, Nicaragua. Data was collected using Attitude Towards Suicide (ATTS) and Youth Self-Report questionnaires (YSR). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted.Results: Suicide ideation prevalence in the past year was 22.6%, suicide plans 10.3%, and suicide attempts 6.5%. Girls were significantly more likely to report suicidal ideation. Multivariate analyses showed that anxious/depressed, somatic complaints and exposure to suicidal behavior in significant others were significantly associated with own serious suicidal expressions.Conclusions: The prevalence of serious suicidal expressions among young people in Nicaragua is within the range reported from Western high-income countries. An attempted or completed suicide in someone close, is associated with own suicidal expressions even in the absence of increased mental distress. Furthermore, somatic complaints should alert healthcare professionals of the possibility of increased suicide risk.
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| 4. |
- Obando Medina, Claudia, et al.
(författare)
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I keep my problems to myself : pathways to suicide attempts in Nicaraguan young men
- 2011
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Ingår i: Suicidology Online. - 2078-5488. ; 2, s. 17-28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This qualitative study is an attempt to understand the pathways leading to attempted suicide of young men in León, Nicaragua. Our research is based on in-depth interviews with twelve young men between the ages of 15 and 24 who had recently attempted to take their own life. The analysis is based on a grounded theory approach. The young men who participated in this study had a broadly similar background, insofar as they all came from broken families and had dropped out from school at an early age. They also all faced similar problems, such as unemployment and alcohol abuse. On this basis a model describing the pathways leading to the suicide attempts was constructed based on the informants’ experiences. In all cases the decision to attempt suicide was found to be an expression of frustration with the present conditions of life. Combined with this was the traumatic influence of a troubled childhood within an unloving, unstable family. Attention has been paid to the ambivalent and antagonistic relationships that the informants experienced within their own families from childhood onwards, and the subsequent inability to establish any meaningful relationships in later life. This study aims to increase our understanding of the complexity of suicidal behaviours in order to help develop genderspecific prevention strategies.
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| 5. |
- Obando Medina, Claudia, et al.
(författare)
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Suicidal expressions among young people in Nicaragua and Cambodia
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Psychiatry. - London : BioMed Central. - 1471-244X. ; 12, s. 28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Whereas prevalence of suicidal expressions among young people is fairly similar in different countries, less is known about associated risk factors. This study compares young people in Nicaragua and Cambodia to examine if the pattern of association between mental health problems and suicidal expressions differs.Methods: 368 and 316 secondary school students, from each country respectively, participated. Self-reported suicidal expressions, exposure to suicidal behavior in significant others and mental health problems among the students were measured using Attitude Towards Suicide (ATTS) and the Youth Self-Report (YSR) questionnaires.Results: Prevalence of serious suicidal expressions (plans and attempts) during recent year, did not differ between countries. Cambodian young people scored significantly higher on all eight YSR-syndromes, except for withdrawn/depressed. In Nicaragua, all YSR-syndromes were significantly associated with serious suicidal expressions in both genders compared to Cambodia where only one syndrome showed an association in each gender; Withdrawn/depressed among girls and Somatic complaints among boys. Associations between being exposed to suicide among significant others and serious suicidal expressions also differed between Cambodia and Nicaragua.Conclusions: While the magnitude of serious suicidal expressions is similar between these structurally similar but culturally different countries, determinants behave differently. Qualitative studies are warranted to further explore cultural specific determinants for suicidal expressions among young people.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Penayo, Ulises, et al.
(författare)
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Mental disorders among primary health care patients in Nicaragua.
- 1990
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Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. - 0001-690X. ; 82:1, s. 82-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this study was to validate the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20) as a screening instrument to identify probable psychiatric cases in the general population in Nicaragua and to study the prevalence and identification of mental disorders in primary health care. In the general population 576 people were screened using SRQ-20. A subsample was further interviewed using the Present State Examination (PSE). In primary health care centers 781 patients were screened according to SRQ-20 and staff indicated whether a mental disorder was identified or not. In the general population study, 9/10 turned out an adequate cut-off for SRQ-20, identifying 23% as probable cases. Using the same cut-off, 47% of the primary health care patients were identified as probable cases. Among male probable cases only 7% were identified as cases by health care staff, and among female probable cases health care staff identified 13% as cases. When the results are compared with previous studies, it becomes evident that the general level of psycho-emotional complaints and accordingly the cut-off for caseness differ in different parts of the world. SRQ must be calibrated for each cultural setting. Among primary health care patients, mental disorders were overrepresented and frequently overlooked by the physicians. Educational programs with training in psychiatry should be implemented for primary health care staff.
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| 9. |
- Caldera, Trinidad, et al.
(författare)
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Psychological impact of the hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua in a one-year perspective
- 2001
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Ingår i: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. - 0933-7954. ; 36:3, s. 108-114
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Whereas natural disasters more commonly occur in low-income countries, almost all studies on psychological consequences have been conducted in the Western world. In countries where resources are poor it is of importance to know which groups should be targeted for early intervention after a disaster. The study aims at assessing the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD and of post-traumatic symptoms among people afflicted by hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua and at identifying risk factors for PTSD symptoms 6 months following a disaster. METHOD: At four primary health care centres, 496 consecutive adult patients were interviewed 6 months after hurricane Mitch regarding PTSD symptoms (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, HTQ), disaster experiences and post-disaster help-seeking. RESULTS: All individuals resident in the area during Mitch were judged to have experienced a trauma fulfilling A criteria for PTSD. Regarding more specific traumas, 39% reported a close relative to be dead or seriously injured and 72% had their house partly or completely destroyed. Prevalence of PTSD ranged from 9.0% in the worst afflicted area to 4.5% in a less damaged area. From a dimensional perspective, PTSD symptoms according to HTQ 6 months after the disaster were significantly associated with the death of a relative (beta-coefficient 0.257, P = 0.000), a house destroyed (beta-coefficient 0.148, P = 0.001), female sex (beta-coefficient 0.139, P = 0.001), previous mental health problems (beta-coefficient 0.109, P = 0.009) and illiteracy (beta-coefficient 0.110, P = 0.009). Those with previous mental health problems (OR = 4.84; 95% CI = 3.04-7.66) were more likely than others to seek from help, any source whereas the opposite was true for illiterate people (OR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.21-0.69). Of all respondents, 8.5% reported that they had thought of taking their lives, and illiterates (OR 2.84; 95% CI = 1.12-4.37) and those with previous mental health problems (OR 2.84; 95% CI = 1.12-4.57) were at particular risk for suicidal problems. One year after Mitch, half of those identified as PTSD cases at 6 months still fulfilled the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. CONCLUSION: PTSD represents a serious mental health problem after a disaster. Those with illiteracy, females and those with previous mental health problems should be targets for early post-disaster intervention.
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| 10. |
- Sundbom, Elisabet, et al.
(författare)
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Personality and defenses : a cross-cultural study of psychiatric patients and healthy individuals in Nicaragua and Sweden.
- 1998
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Ingår i: Psychological Reports. - 0033-2941. ; 83:3 Pt 2, s. 1331-47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examined cross-cultural variability in personality and defenses among Nicaraguan and Swedish healthy individuals, patients with borderline personality disorder and schizophrenic disorders by means of the projective perceptual Defense Mechanism Test. The over-all aim was to test the hypothesis proposed by Anthony Marsella of 'severity related cross-cultural variability' suggesting that differences in symptom profile or personality patterns between cultures are most pronounced among healthy individuals and less so among individuals with severe mental disorders as they are perceived as more universal and less culturally determined. The over-all results showed that cross-cultural differences were in accordance with the proposed hypothesis. In addition, there were significant intracultural differences between the different diagnostic groups in both countries. The conclusion is that the Defense Mechanism Test and Partial Least Squares analysis seem to be powerful methods for personality assessment and potentially for cross-cultural research, and culture-specific norms in the Defense Mechanism Test must be employed.
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