Childhood trauma and suicide risk in a sample of young individuals aged 14–35 years in southern Brazil

Suicide is among the main causes of death of people aged between 15 and 44 years old. Childhood trauma is an important risk factor for suicide. Hence, the objective of this study was to verify the relationship between childhood trauma and current suicide risk (suicidal behavior and ideation) in individuals aged 14–35 years, in the city of Pelotas, Brazil. This is a cross-sectional, population-based study. Sample selection was performed by clusters. Suicide risk was evaluated using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and Childhood trauma was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Moreover, the participants responded to a questionnaire concerning socioeconomic status, work, and substance use. The sample was composed of 1,380 individuals. The prevalence of suicide risk was 11.5%. The prevalence figures of childhood trauma were 15.2% (emotional neglect), 13.5% (physical neglect), 7.6% (sexual abuse), 10.1% (physical abuse), and 13.8% (emotional abuse). Suicide risk was associated (p < .001) with gender, work, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and all types of childhood trauma. The odds of suicide risk were higher in women (OR = 1.8), people who were not currently working (OR = 2.3), individuals who presented alcohol abuse (OR = 2.6), and among tobacco smokers (OR = 3.4). Moreover, suicide risk was increased in all types of trauma: emotional neglect (OR = 3.7), physical neglect (OR = 2.8), sexual abuse (OR = 3.4), physical abuse (OR = 3.1), and emotional abuse (OR = 6.6). Thus, preventing early trauma may reduce suicide risk in young individuals.     

Diaries of lifelong learners: Information seeking behaviors of older adults in peer-learning study groups at an academic institution

Although not much has been written about older adults' use of academic libraries, they experience challenges navigating these considerable physical and online library spaces. Members of a university lifelong learning community were recruited for a 10-week diary study. They were asked to record their real-time information seeking behaviors related to their study groups, and the challenges they faced looking for or using information. They were also asked to rate their enjoyment to determine whether the joy of engaging in community learning extends to the information seeking process. Findings from sixteen diarists show that they sought information primarily on a specific topic, person, or book. They used a variety of resources but found books and periodicals most useful. They struggled with trust, technology, time management, library anxiety, information overload and dissemination. With increased understanding, librarians can be better equipped to reach older adults that are doing scholarly research and contribute to their success.     

Neo-Platonism in Ibn Khaldūn's Poetics

This article analyses the presence of Neo-Platonic ideas in the poetics of Ibn Khaldūn's (1332–1406). It particularly focuses on the sixth part of the Muqaddima, in which Ibn Khaldūn presents the Arab-Islamic system of knowledge. I argue that Ibn Khaldūn analyses poetry in terms of a peculiar kind of knowledge and that his views on poetry are largely dominated by a Neo-Platonic paradigm, deriving from Avicenna's Psychology and Sufism. I focus on four topics: the “weak” rational position of poetics among the sciences of logic; the rhetorical norm of mu?ābaqa (“conformity” between “words” and “ideas”, and between “speech” and the “requirement of the situation”), the musical norm of talā?um (appropriateness of note combinations) and the notion of poetical “models” (uslūb; pl. asālīb). My conclusion is that the Muqaddima provides the modern reader with a precious longue-durée overall view of pre-modern Arab-Islamic poetics.     

Students' transition into higher education: The role of self-efficacy,regulation strategies,and academic achievements

Transition into higher education (HE) has received increased interest in recent years, since it represents a challenging period for students. The aim of this study was to further understand the associations between self-efficacy, academic achievements, and regulation in first-year university students during their transition into HE. The convenience sample consisted of 374 first-year university students (230 females, 61.5%), aged from 18 to 33 (M = 19.86, SD = 1.51) and recruited from an Italian university. Self-efficacy was assessed using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire; regulation strategies were assessed with the Inventory of Learning Patterns of Students; and a self-reported grade point average was taken as an indicator of each student's academic performance. Result shows that students' self-efficacy was positively associated with self-regulation and negatively associated with a lack of regulation. Students with higher self-efficacy and self-regulation strategies had better academic performance. Female students performed better in academic activities and adopted more external regulation strategies. The findings represent an opportunity for university institutions to consider the interventions they provide to first-year students in order to facilitate the successful transition from secondary school; they also provide researchers with further knowledge about the effect of self-efficacy, and regulation strategies on students' adjustment to HE.     

School Self-evaluation Towards a European Dimension

This article describes the development of a Comenius project focused on school self-evaluation involving partners from four European countries and resulting in an international course which took place in Italy. The planning, the implementation and the evaluation of the course are presented, clarifying the difficulties and the constraints met and the solutions adopted, the weak and the strong aspects as they emerged from the evaluation undertaken, as well as some recommendations for improvement. In conclusion, some general observations are made on the project as a whole.     

Question formation: A teachable art

Research question or topic formulation is an important skill for individuals to learn in order to become information literate. There are few reports in the literature on how to teach this skill and assess the instruction delivered. This article presents instructional strategies and an active learning activity that librarians can use to teach students how to develop research topics.     

The Somatic Marker Hypotheses, and What the Iowa Gambling Task Does and Does not Show

Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis (SMH) is a prominent neuroscientifichypothesis about the mechanisms implementing decision-making.This paper argues that, since its inception, the SMH has notbeen clearly formulated. It is possible to identify at leasttwo different hypotheses, which make different predictions:SMH-G, which claims that somatic states generally implementpreferences and are needed to make a decision; and SMH-S, whichspecifically claims that somatic states assist decision-makingby anticipating the long-term outcomes of available options.This paper also argues that neither hypothesis is adequatelysupported empirically; the task originally proposed to testSMH is not a good test for SMH-S, and its results do not supportSMH-G either. In addition, it is not clear how SMH-G could beempirically invalidated, given its general formulation. Suggestionsare made that could help provide evidence for SMH-S, and makeSMH-G more specific.

1 Introduction

2 Two Hypotheses: SomaticMarkers as Embodied Preferences, andas a Source of Farsightedness

3 Lack of Evidence for Somatic Farsightedness

4 Does MakingDecisions Require Somatic Markers, and can itbe Shown in theLaboratory?

5 Conclusion

     

Establishing Appropriate Conditions: Students Learning to Apply a Theorem

During a sequence of tutorials conducted by the first author, it became evident that students were not seeing how to apply the theorem concerning a continuous function on a closed and bounded interval attaining its extreme values in situations in which it is necessary first to construct the closed and bounded interval by reasoning about properties concerning asymptotes. The paper describes 1 tutorial with 10 students and a follow-up revision session with 2 of the students the same day concerning the use of this theorem in which the tutor used the pedagogic strategy of learner-generated examples. The students’ responses and the tutor’s observations are analysed using constructs of example spaces, structure of attention and dimensions of possible variation.