Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to David Lester.
The reasons the social sciences do not have an effect on public policies are discussed, including that there are conflicting results, the effect of scholars' biases on their research, and a desire to keep the social sciences value-free.
A scale to measure myths about suicide was derived from Domino's Suicide Opinion Questionnaire, but the scale had poor reliability.
In a sample of 352 students, correlates of credit card ownership differed by sex. For both men and women, credit card ownership was predicted by their affective attitude toward credit cards. However, whereas for men concern with money as a tactic for gaining power predicted credit card ownership, for women feelings of insecurity about having sufficient money and having a conservative approach to money predicted credit card ownership.
In a study with 95 students, the three subscales on a credit card attitude scale devised by Pinto, et al. were not replicated.
The legalization of abortion in five states in 1970 and the rest of the American states in 1973 did not appear to result in a decline in the murder rate of babies.
Thalbourne's Manic-Depressiveness Scale was given to 1,250 college students and depression scores (but not sex or manic scores) predicted past suicidal ideation and attempts.
A sample of 202 Kuwaiti college students (63 men and 139 women; Mage=21.6 yr., SD=2.4) responded to the Thalbourne, et al.'s Manic-Depressiveness Scale. In a factor analysis with a varimax rotation, 14 of 18 items had significant loadings (>.3) on the first factor, including 8 items of the original depression scale. 6 items significantly loaded on the second factor, including 3 items of the original mania scale. This did not match the hypothetical structure of the scale.
Analysis of a large sample of suicide notes from 262 suicides in Australia found that men less often had escape from pain as a motive for their suicides and more often had love/romantic problems. The suicides of older persons were more often motivated by escape from pain and less often had love/romantic problems.
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A study by Leenaars and Lester (1995) found that suicide prevention centers in the provinces of Canada in 1985 had a preventive, but nonsignificant, impact on the suicide rates of the provinces. The present study replicated that study for 1994-1998 and found a similar preventive impact, although weak, of suicide prevention centers on the provincial suicide rates.
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In a sample of 51 nations, the suicide rates were negatively associated with the proportion of people with Type O blood, while homicide rates were positively associated with this proportion.
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Credit card use often involves a disadvantageous allocation of finances because they allow for spending beyond means and buying on impulse. Accordingly they are associated with increased bankruptcy, anxiety, stress, and health problems. Mounting evidence from functional neuroimaging and clinical studies implicates prefrontal-subcortical systems in processing financial information. This study examined the relationship of credit card debt and executive functions using the Frontal System Behavior Scale (FRSBE). After removing the influences of demographic variables (age, sex, education, and income), credit card debt was associated with the Executive Dysfunction scale, but not the Apathy or Disinhibition scales. This suggests that processes of conceptualizing and organizing finances are most relevant to credit card debt, and implicates dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction.
A sample of 209 volunteer Kuwaiti undergraduates responded to an Arabic version of the Revised Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale with 4 subscales: Death of Self, Dying of Self, Death of Others, and Dying of Others. Reliabilities of the 4 subscales and of the grand total score ranged from 0.75 to 0.92, which is considered adequate. A 4-factor solution was congruent with the allocation of items to 2 subscales (i.e. Dying of Self and Death of Others), whereas the theorized factor structure of the other 2 subscales were only partially supported by empirical analyses. The intercorrelations between the 4 total subscale scores yielded a general factor of death and dying, denoting good factorial validity of the scale.
In a study of 144 college students, the factorial structure of the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale matched the face content of the subscales quite closely, ameliorating the criticism of the scale by R. A. Neimeyer et al. (2003).
Examples of recent cases of martyrs are examined in order to identify the basic issues of whether martyrdom can be viewed as altruistic suicide. Several issues are identified: whom does the act have to benefit, does the act have to have its intended consequences or is the intent sufficient, does the martyr have to be thinking rationally, and whether execution by the state can be viewed as altruistic suicide.
A case of an adolescent suicide is presented through an interview with his mother. Two Commentaries follow discussing the psychodynamic and diagnostic aspects of the suicidal development from a suicidological perspective.