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Marie-Philippe Harvey,1,2 Dominique Lorrain,1,3 Marylie Martel,1,2 Kayla Bergeron-Vezina,1 Francis Houde,1,2 Mario Séguin,2,4 Guillaume Léonard1,2,5 1Research Centre on Aging, CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS, 2Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, 3Department of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke 4Department of Neurosurgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, 5School of Rehabilitation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada Background: The prevalence of chronic pain and sleep disturbances substantially increases with age. Pharmacotherapy remains the primary treatment option for these health issues. However, side effects and drug interactions are difficult to control in elderly individuals.Aims: The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting a randomized sham-controlled trial and to collect preliminary data on the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to reduce pain and improve sleep in older adults suffering from chronic pain.Methods: Fourteen elderly individuals (mean age 71±7 years) suffering from chronic pain and sleep complaints were randomized to receive either anodal tDCS, applied over the primary motor cortex (2 mA, 20 minutes), or sham tDCS, for 5 consecutive days. Pain was measured with visual analog scales, pain logbooks and questionnaires, while sleep was assessed with actigraphy, sleep diaries and questionnaires.Results: There were no missing data for pain and sleep measures, except for actigraphy, that generated several missing data. Blinding was maintained throughout the study, for both the evaluator and participants. Active but not sham tDCS significantly reduced pain (P

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI or "concussion") is a highly prevalent health condition in children, and those under the age of 6 years have the highest rate of Emergency Department presentation for suspected head injuries. The outcome of mTBI is determined by a range of child (injury, biological, functional) and environmental (socio-economic status, parent, family) factors. The aim of this work is to present evidence supporting the central role of parental and familial factors in pediatric mTBI recovery, and to illustrate ways in which parental factors can especially influence the outcome of early mTBI, defined as injuries sustained by infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The manuscript first presents a topical review of empirical studies providing evidence that family functioning and parental factors such as their mental or affective state, parenting style, and the quality of their interactions with their child, are affected by and determine the course of recovery after pediatric mTBI. Then, a pathway approach and conceptual model are proposed to illustrate probable scenarios associated with how parents detect and react to their child's post-concussive symptoms and changes in behavior after early mTBI. The "Perception, Attribution, and Response after Early Non-inflicted Traumatic Brain Injury" (PARENT) model suggests that parental roles and factors are especially influential in the context of early brain injuries, and that parents' ability to perceive, attribute and respond to the symptoms experienced by their child in a well-adjusted and adaptive manner critically sets the direction and rhythm of the early mTBI recovery process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study alcohol and drug addiction incidence in students exposed to the Dawson College shooting within the 18 months following the event, to identify the precursors of a psychoactive substance addiction development while considering the severity of event exposure, and to examine whether alcohol use, 18 months after the event, is related to any of the various posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom groups.Method: The population of this study was comprised of all the Dawson College students at the time of the event. Analyses were conducted with 854 students enrolled in the college at the time of the shooting.Results: Five per cent of women and 7% of men showed, for the first time in their life, a problem with substance addiction following the shooting. In men, young age, lifetime suicidal ideation, and having seen the killer during the shooting are the main precursors of incident accident cases. None of the studied precursors were significant in women. Men and women were also different in terms of PTSD symptoms predicting alcohol use 18 months after the shooting.Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of considering a person's sex when studying their psychoactive substance use following a trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Little is known about differential suicide profiles across the life trajectory. This study introduces the life-course method in suicide research with the aim of refining the longitudinal and cumulative assessment of psychosocial factors by quantifying accumulation of burden over time in order to delineate distinctive pathways of completed suicide.MethodThe psychological autopsy method was used to obtain third-party information on consecutive suicides. Life-history calendar analysis served to arrive at an adversity score per 5-year segment that was then cluster-analysed and correlated to define victim profiles. RESULTS: Two distinct life trajectories emerged: (1) individuals who experienced childhood traumas, developmental adversity and little protection were more likely to present concurrent psychiatric and Axis II disorders; and (2) individuals who experienced less adversity but seemed more reactive to later major difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: The life calendar approach presented here in suicide research adds to the identification of life events, distal and recent, previously associated with suicide. It also quantifies the burden of adversity over the life course, defining two distinct profiles that could benefit from distinct targeted preventive intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Individuals experiencing suicidal ideation or behavior frequently seek assistance at the emergency department (ED), yet the care they receive does not consistently align with their needs. This study explores the ED care experience of suicidal patients from their own perspective and offers recommendations to improve ED care for this population., Method: This qualitative study uses a descriptive interpretative design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 individuals who sought care in an ED due to suicidal ideation or behavior. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis., Findings: Participants' experiences were marked by an unsuited physical environment described as uncomfortable, noisy, and depressing. The organization of care was perceived as inadequate as patients complained about limited front-line access to mental health expertise, long waiting times, overworked staff, and inequities between patients with physical injuries and those with mental health concerns. Participants reported feelings of being trapped, left on their own and mistreated during their ED stay. Most found their care experience unhelpful or distressing, leaving them reluctant to reconsult. Specific recommendations based on patients' testimonials and literature are provided to enhance the ED care experience of suicidal patients., Conclusion: This study highlights several areas for improvement of the ED care experience of suicidal patients. Changes in current practices are needed to offer suicidal patients the satisfying care experience they deserve., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to develop and validate the Knowledge of Suicide Scale (KSS), elaborated to assess adherence to myths about suicide., Methods: The KSS is a self-questionnaire including 22 statements relating to myths about suicide for which the respondent is asked to rate his degree of adherence on a scale ranging from 0 ("strongly disagree") to 10 ("completely agree"). Using the script concordance test scoring method, the respondents' scores were compared with those of experts to obtain, for each item, a score between 0 (maximum deviation with the experts) and 1 (minimum deviation with the experts). One thousand and thirty-five individuals (222 psychiatric interns, 332 medical interns in the first semester excluding psychiatry and 481 journalism students) were included., Results: According to the exploratory factor analysis, the KSS is a two-dimensional scale: the first subscale includes 15 items and the second seven items. The tool showed excellent face validity, correct convergent and divergent validities (multi-method multi-feature analyzes), and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient between 0.66 and 0.83 for scales and subscales). The KSS is moderately and negatively correlated with the Stigma of Suicide Scale (r=-0.3). It significantly discriminates groups with different expected levels of knowledge regarding suicide (P<0.001)., Conclusions: The KSS demonstrated good psychometric properties to measure adherence to myths about suicide. This tool could be useful in assessing the effectiveness of suicide prevention literacy improvement programs., (Copyright © 2023 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Suicide is a major public health problem and a cause of premature mortality. With a view to prevention, a great deal of research has been devoted to the determinants of suicide, focusing mostly on individual risk factors, particularly depression. In addition to causes intrinsic to the individual, the social environment has also been widely studied, particularly social isolation. This paper examines the social dimension of suicide etiology through a review of the literature on the relationship between suicide and social isolation., Methods: Medline searches via PubMed and PsycINFO were conducted. The keywords were "suicid*" AND "isolation.", Results: Of the 2,684 articles initially retrieved, 46 were included in the review., Conclusions: Supported by proven theoretical foundations, mainly those developed by E. Durkheim and T. Joiner, a large majority of the articles included endorse the idea of a causal relationship between social isolation and suicide, and conversely, a protective effect of social support against suicide. Moreover, the association between suicide and social isolation is subject to variations related to age, gender, psychopathology, and specific circumstances. The social etiology of suicide has implications for intervention and future research.

Objective: Across the globe more than 35,000 children a year are adopted by non-relatives, and some studies suggest that adopted individuals may be more vulnerable to developing mental disorders. To map the differences in suicide risk factors in adopted and non-adopted individuals, this study will compare the development of mental disorders as well as life events occurring before the age of 18 for both adopted and non-adopted individuals deceased by suicide., Methods: This study included 13 adopted and 26 non-adopted individuals deceased by suicide as well as 26 non-adopted living control individuals. Cases were taken from a data bank created over the last decade by researchers of [our institution] comprising a mixture of 700 suicide cases and living control individuals aged from 14 to 84. Adopted and non-adopted individuals deceased by suicide; adopted individuals deceased by suicide and non-adopted living control individuals were each compared on Axis I and II disorders, early life events, and burdens of adversity., Results: Results show significant differences, with a higher rate of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, mental health comorbidity and Cluster C personality disorders among adopted individuals. Furthermore, adopted individuals have higher adversity scores prior to the age of 15., Conclusion: This study underlines the fact that adoptive families need to be supported throughout adoption. Health care professionals need specialized training on this matter, and the psychological challenges adopted individuals face need to be treated at the earliest juncture., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Ligier, Body Lawson, Lamourette, Giguère, Lesage and Séguin.)

This study reports results of a life course study conducted with Inuit in Nunavik to obtain information on the life adversities and cumulative burden of adversity for three groups: those who died by suicide, those who attempted suicide, and those who experienced suicidal ideation but never attempted. The study involved different levels of collaboration between health authorities, front-line health workers and the research team. Results indicate that substance misuse and relational difficulties are most associated with the burden of adversity for those people who died by suicide, while bullying is most associated with the burden of adversity for those people who have made suicide attempts and those who have never made a suicide attempt. Specifically targeting parent-child relations, substance misuse, and bullying may be an important upstream strategy for reducing future suicidality in Nunavik.

Background: Postvention aims to implement services adapted to the needs of a population that may be vulnerable after suicide. While a plethora of postvention programs exist, they are generally based less on solid evidence than on the judgment of health professionals. Using the Delphi method, an Australian study obtained a consensus among experts as to which postvention actions are to be engineered in a postvention program. Since no similar study has been carried out for programs in French-speaking countries, it seemed important to reproduce the same type of study and to compare the respective results. The present study is aimed at establishing a French inventory of postvention actions and at achieving a consensus among experts as to the actions to be included in a postvention program., Methods: A systematic review of the scientific literature (PRISMA method) and the gray literature (documentation on the WEB) made it possible to identify the different actions that have been included in various postvention programs. Using the DELPHI method, experts endeavored to assess their relevance., Results: An inventory of 190 postvention actions was established and they were classified according to a sequential axis (pre-event, at the time of the event, and post-event), according to type of action (environment-centered or people-centered). The experts identified 128 actions to be included in a postvention program., Conclusion: Convergence was observed among the experts, as they identified the practices to be encouraged following a suicide. When comparing the results in French-speaking countries to the 548 actions selected in the Australian study, we observe similarities between the two studies regarding types of postvention actions. This study provides an update for health professionals on the most relevant practices to be included in a postvention program., Competing Interests: Déclaration de liens d'intérêts Les auteurs déclarent ne pas avoir de liens d'intérêts., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To analyse the epidemiological data on suicide in French Polynesia (FP)., Methods: Data on suicides were collected from the Public Health Direction, Judicial Police Investigations Court of Justice records, the Centre d'Opérations et de Renseignements de la Gendarmerie, patient records for those hospitalized in psychiatry and from psychological autopsies., Results: The dataset consisted of 316 suicide cases in FP over 25 years (1992-2016). In FP, suicide was more frequent in men (sex ratio 3.2:1), young people (mean age, 34.4 years) and individuals with previously diagnosed psychiatric disorders (100 of 316; 31.6%) The most common method of suicide was hanging (276 of 316; 87.3%). A history of previous suicide attempts was found in 25 of 56 (44.6%) of suicide cases, when documented. The most common potential triggering factors for suicide were emotional problems. The suicide rates have remained stable during 1992-2016 (mean 10.6/100 000 inhabitants per year), with periods of economic crises increasing suicide rates., Conclusions: These results provide valuable information to enable the effective targeting of suicide prevention strategies toward those at high risk. Economic crises had larger impacts in the French overseas territories than mainland France. Given the unprecedented economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in FP, there is an urgent need to implement suicide epidemiological surveillance and prevention programmes.