Resource Tag: AUSTRIA

This presentation described the development of a suicide prevention & crisis intervention centre in an Austrian county. Much of the work involves public relations as there is stigma towards social psychiatry in the local population.

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This Austrian study estimated the cost-effectiveness of escitalopram compared with citalopram in the management of severe depression. A decision model incorporated treatment paths & associated direct resource use & the indirect cost of work absenteeism over a 6-month period. Six months after the start of treatment, the overall clinical success remission rate was higher for […]

Psychometric properties & correlates of the German form of Lester & Bean’s 1992 Attribution of Causes to Ssuicide Scale were investigated in a sample of 156 Austrians. The three attributional dimensions presented moderate internal consistencies & the 18 items appeared to be factorially orderly, as indicated by exploratory factor analysis. Previous results were replicated, with […]

As no scale for assessing beliefs in the inheritance of risk factors for suicide is available, a 22-item scale was constructed, its contents rated by experts in a validation survey & administered to samples of 70 medical & 165 psychology students in Austria. Medical students held stronger beliefs in the genetics of suicide than psychology […]

This study of the Task Force on Suicide in Prisons uncovered many differences between countries in suicide prevention activities in prisons. Mental health professionals remain central in all such activities with inmate peer support & correctional officers also playing critical roles. There is great variation in the involvement of outside community workers. These differences could […]

Lester & Bean’s (1992) Attribution of Causes to Suicide Scale guages lay theories of suicide including intrapsychic problems, interpersonal conflicts, & societal forces as causes. Using its German form, no sex differences & no social-desirability effects were found in a sample of 165 Austrian psychology undergraduates. All 3 subscales were moderately intercorrelated indicating respondents’ general […]

This study evaluated the impact of firearm legislation reform on firearm suicides & homicides as well as the availability of firearms in Austria. Official statistics on suicides, firearm homicides, & firearm licences issued from 1985-2005 were examined. To assess the effect of the new firearm law, enacted in 1997, linear regression & Poisson regressions were […]

This study examined official suicide statistics for Austria for the period 1970-2004. There were 18,101 suicides among elderly individuals. Time trends & differences in suicide methods were analyzed as well as in age groups & both genders of the elderly. 3 major high-risk groups were identified: elderly male suicides by firearms, elderly female suicides by […]

This study further validated the 22-item Beliefs in the Inheritance of Risk Factors for Suicide Scale, a novel instrument for assessing individuals’ beliefs in the genetics of suicide. Data from a general population sample of 159 Austrian adults showed adequate internal scale consistency. Due to deliberate content heterogeneity, the instrument has a subscale structure, but […]

This article re-examines Jewish responses towards Nazi racism by studying suicides among German Jews. The author’s purpose is two-fold: first, asking what motivated these suicides & secondly, how far, if at all, Jewish suicides can be considered a form of resistance towards Nazism & to what extent they were acts of despair & hopelessness. (129 […]

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In-patient suicides in two psychiatric hospitals in Austria were assessed over 8 years (1987-1994). Cases were detected by comparing police data with the hospitals’ admission & discharge records. 44 in-patient suicides occurred. The majority of patients had been diagnosed with affective disorders or schizophrenia. The majority of open ward suicides happened outside the hospital; 39.4% […]

A case-control study was conducted to investigate the relevance of criminal history, psychiatric morbidity, & social integration to suicide in Austrian prisons. Of 250 recorded suicides, 220 personal files were available & matched to 440 controls. The most important predictors for suicide in custody were a history of suicidality, psychiatric diagnosis, psychotropic medication, a highly […]

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Published in “The Suicidal Process: Challenges for Treatment and Prevention”

A prospective study investigated possible differences in intensity of auto-aggression tendencies, depression, hopelessness & self-communication between patients who completed or attempted suicide in a 1-year follow-up, patients who attempted suicide in the period under observation, & a non-suicidal control group. In a final analysis, patients who completed or attempted suicide differed from patients of the […]

In this investigation, the course of serum cholesterol concentrations was measured in depressed patients during treatment. Degrees of depression & suicidality were measured with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Although there was a significant reduction in depression & suicidality scores, neither a significant changed in serum cholesterol levels nor a correlation between cholesterol levels & […]

Within a total survey of suicides in the Austrian penitentiary system, the weekly, monthly & seasonal distribution of custodial suicides between 1947 & 1999 was studied. A harmonic Poisson regression model was performed to detect seasonality of suicides. No unequal distribution of suicides was evident over the 53-year period. Possible explanations for this finding are […]