| 1. |
- Hadlaczky, Gergö, et al.
(författare)
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Increased suicides during new year, but not during Christmas in Sweden : analysis of cause of death data 2006-2015
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0803-9488 .- 1502-4725. ; 72:1, s. 72-74
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Previous studies have investigated the impact of the Christmas and New Year holiday on suicide rates. However, no such data has yet been published on Swedish suicides.Aims: To examine the occurrence of suicides on these dates in Sweden between 2006 and 2015.Methods: The suicide count for each date between December 15th and January 15th was obtained from the Swedish cause of death registry. The observations were transformed to Z-scores to enable calculation of p-values.Results: A small but non-significant decrease in suicides was observed on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. A significant spike was found on New Year’s Day (NYD) (Z = 3.40; p < .001), and these excess suicide occurred mainly among men aged 15–24 and 45–64. However, the number of suicides were somewhat lower than expected on the 31st of December (Z = −1.58; p = .115).Discussion: The noted increase in suicide on NYD is in line with previous research from other countries. However, the decrease in suicides on the day before NYD suggests a delay rather than a spontaneous increase of suicides. Possible mechanisms to explain this phenomenon are discussed, such as the “broken promise effect”, increased alcohol consumption, or lower help-seeking and accessibility to care.
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| 2. |
- Hökby, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Are Mental Health Effects of Internet Use Attributable to the Web-Based Content or Perceived Consequences of Usage? A Longitudinal Study of European Adolescents
- 2016
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Ingår i: JMIR Mental Health. - : JMIR Publications Inc.. - 2368-7959. ; 3:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Adolescents and young adults are among the most frequent Internet users, and accumulating evidence suggests that their Internet behaviors might affect their mental health. Internet use may impact mental health because certain Web-based content could be distressing. It is also possible that excessive use, regardless of content, produces negative consequences, such as neglect of protective offline activities.Objective: The objective of this study was to assess how mental health is associated with (1) the time spent on the Internet, (2) the time spent on different Web-based activities (social media use, gaming, gambling, pornography use, school work, newsreading, and targeted information searches), and (3) the perceived consequences of engaging in those activities.Methods: A random sample of 2286 adolescents was recruited from state schools in Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Questionnaire data comprising Internet behaviors and mental health variables were collected and analyzed cross-sectionally and were followed up after 4 months.Results: Cross-sectionally, both the time spent on the Internet and the relative time spent on various activities predicted mental health (P <. 001), explaining 1.4% and 2.8% variance, respectively. However, the consequences of engaging in those activities were more important predictors, explaining 11.1% variance. Only Web-based gaming, gambling, and targeted searches had mental health effects that were not fully accounted for by perceived consequences. The longitudinal analyses showed that sleep loss due to Internet use (beta =. 12, 95% CI=0.05-0.19, P =. 001) and withdrawal (negative mood) when Internet could not be accessed (beta =. 09, 95% CI=0.03-0.16, P <. 01) were the only consequences that had a direct effect on mental health in the long term. Perceived positive consequences of Internet use did not seem to be associated with mental health at all.Conclusions: The magnitude of Internet use is negatively associated with mental health in general, but specific Web-based activities differ in how consistently, how much, and in what direction they affect mental health. Consequences of Internet use (especially sleep loss and withdrawal when Internet cannot be accessed) seem to predict mental health outcomes to a greater extent than the specific activities themselves. Interventions aimed at reducing the negative mental health effects of Internet use could target its negative consequences instead of the Internet use itself.
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| 3. |
- Hökby, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Longitudinal Effects of Screen Time on Depressive Symptoms among Swedish Adolescents : The Moderating and Mediating Role of Coping Engagement Behavior.
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 20:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies suggest that hourly digital screen time increases adolescents' depressive symptoms and emotional regulation difficulties. However, causal mechanisms behind such associations remain unclear. We hypothesized that problem-focused and/or emotion-focused engagement coping moderates and possibly mediates this association over time. Questionnaire data were collected in three waves from a representative sample of Swedish adolescents (0, 3 and 12 months; n = 4793; 51% boys; 99% aged 13-15). Generalized Estimating Equations estimated the main effects and moderation effects, and structural regression estimated the mediation pathways. The results showed that problem-focused coping had a main effect on future depression (b = 0.030; p < 0.001) and moderated the effect of screen time (b = 0.009; p < 0.01). The effect size of this moderation was maximum 3.4 BDI-II scores. The mediation results corroborated the finding that future depression was only indirectly correlated with baseline screen time, conditional upon intermittent problem-coping interference (C'-path: Std. beta = 0.001; p = 0.018). The data did not support direct effects, emotion-focused coping effects, or reversed causality. We conclude that hourly screen time can increase depressive symptoms in adolescent populations through interferences with problem-focused coping and other emotional regulation behaviors. Preventive programs could target coping interferences to improve public health. We discuss psychological models of why screen time may interfere with coping, including displacement effects and echo chamber phenomena.
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| 4. |
- Hökby, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Suicides during the Swedish midsummer holiday : analysis of cause of death data 1980-2018
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0803-9488 .- 1502-4725. ; 75:7, s. 487-493
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction Previous studies have demonstrated increased suicide rates on holidays such as New Year, nationally and internationally. Comparable to New Year's Eve, Swedish Midsummer is a major holiday, linked to high levels of alcohol consumption in the population. We, therefore, hypothesized that suicides and deaths with undetermined intent would increase during the Midsummer celebration. Methods We used a retrospective death registry design to investigate all suicides that occurred on Midsummer's Eve (ME), Midsummer's Day (MD) and 28 adjacent days (AD) during 1980-2018. Data were stratified by diagnosis type, sex and age, and was analyzed with paired t-tests, Poisson regression, and time-series charts with 95% confidence intervals. Results During the 30-day investigation period, the observed average was 4.3 deaths per day (23.3% cases with undetermined intent). ME, but not MD, was associated with significantly fewer suicides compared to AD (-1.08 deaths, p < .01). ME, but not MD, was simultaneously associated with more deaths with undetermined intent (+0.58 deaths, p = .007). No moderating sex or age effects were found. Descriptive statistics showed that poisonings, drownings and traffic-related injuries were common among the undetermined ME cases. Discussion The study found that suicide decreases and deaths with undetermined intent increases on ME. The findings are interpreted considering that substance use may affect both suicidal intentions and diagnosis classifications. Social and cultural support and holiday anticipations might also account for suicidal behaviors on ME.
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| 5. |
- Plöderl, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Increased suicide risk among younger women in winter during full moon in northern Europe : An artifact or a novel finding?
- 2023
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 28, s. 901-907
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Available evidence suggests that there is no effect of moon phases on suicidal behavior. However, a Finnish study recently reported elevated suicide rates during full-moon, but only among premenopausal women and only in winter. This could not be replicated in an Austrian study and stirred a discussion about whether the Finnish finding was false-positive or if there are unaccounted moderator variables differing between Finland and Austria. The goal of the present study was to provide another replication with data from Sweden, which is geographically more comparable to Finland than Austria. We also investigated the discussed moderator variables latitude and nightly artificial brightness. There were 48,537 suicides available for analysis. The fraction of suicides during the full-moon quarter in winter did not differ significantly from the expected 25% among premenopausal women (23.3%) and in the full sample (24.7%). The incidence risk ratios for full moon quarter in Poisson regression models were 0.96 (95% CI: 0.90–1.02) for premenopausal women and 1.01 (95% CI: 0.99–1.04) for the full sample. According to Bayes-factor analysis, the evidence supports the null-hypothesis (no association) over the alternative hypothesis (some association). We found similar results when we split the data by latitude and artificial nightly brightness, respectively. In line with the Austrian study, there was no increase of suicides in Sweden among premenopausal women in winter during full-moon. The results from the Finnish study are likely false positive, perhaps resulting from problematic but common research and publication practices, which we discuss.
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| 6. |
- Westerlund, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Swedish Suicide-Bereaved Women : Increased Risk Associated With the Loss of a Child, Feelings of Guilt and Shame, and Perceived Avoidance From Family Members
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous studies have shown that suicide-bereaved individuals may suffer increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) due to traumatic grief. In this paper, we present the self-reported rate of STB among Swedish suicide-bereaved women (N= 293). Data was collected in a cross-sectional anonymous survey on the homepages of Sweden's leading suicide survivor organization, SPES. We used logistic regression to evaluate risks (of any STB event) related to losing a child compared to other relatives and the experience of social avoidance from family members, as well as feelings of shame and guilt. The self-reported rate of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts was 60, 24, and 5 percent, respectively, considerably higher than in the general population. Results showed that all of the investigated variables were independent risk factors for STB (ORs ranged between 1.29 and 2.69). Women who had both lost a child and experienced family avoidance reported the highest STB rate (87.5%), and we found an interaction effect between these two risk factors (OR = 3.45; 95% CI = 1.05-11.32) that was related to self-reported shame. It is concluded that perceived responsibility for someone else's suicide, and the social avoidance associated with it, may play an important role for suicide survivors and should be targeted by postvention activities.
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