Objective
Some research suggests that suicidal ideation and attempt among adolescents may be contagious – that is adolescents who are exposed to peers’ suicidal behaviour are more likely to experience suicidal ideation or attempt suicide themselves. Less is known about the potential contagion effect of non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI). Our objective was to determine whether knowledge of a friend's NSSI is associated with adolescent's own non‐suicidal self‐injury and suicidal behaviours.
Methods
Data from 1483 youth ages 14–17 years were obtained from the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study, a cross‐sectional population‐based survey of children and adolescents in Ontario, Canada. Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between knowledge of a friend's NSSI and adolescents’ own self‐reported self‐injurious and suicidal behaviours. Interactions with gender, age group and presence of a mental disorder were investigated.
Results
Knowledge of a friend's non‐suicidal self‐injury was significantly associated with the adolescent's own non‐suicidal self‐injury (OR = 2.03, 95% CI 1.05–3.90), suicidal ideation (OR = 3.08, 95% CI 1.50–6.30) and suicide attempt (OR = 2.87, 95% CI 1.20–6.87).
Conclusion
These findings suggest an apparent contagion effect for non‐suicidal self‐injury. Awareness of a friend's self‐injurious behaviours is associated with an adolescent's own self‐injury and suicidality. Interventions aimed at preventing NSSI and suicidality should consider prevention of possible contagion at the school and/or community level.
Background: Depression is often associated with an increase in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity and immune response. To investigate this relationship, we examined the consequences of environmental manipulation on the neural correlates of the HPA axis and immune response in an animal model of depression, the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat. Additionally, female animals are often overlooked in preclinical research because of the hormone fluctuations inherent in the estrous cycle. Methods: Female rats were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 environments for 30 days: (1) environmental enrichment (EE), (2) standard housing (SH), and (3) isolated housing (IH). Immunoreactivity of astrocytes (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP]), glucocorticoid receptors (GRs), and microglia (Iba1) in the hippocampus and amygdala were measured using immunohistochemistry. Results: WKY animals had significantly more GR staining area and Iba1 staining intensity and area in the CA1 of the hippocampus. In enriched Wistar rats, GFAP staining intensity and area were greater in the CA1. A trend towards a greater percent of area stained with GR was found in WKY animals as compared to that of the Wistar animals. This was due to WKY females in EE having significantly higher GR staining intensity and area in the amygdala as compared to that of animals in SH. Discussion: These strain differences lend support to the use of WKY animals as an animal model of depression. Furthermore, due to the effects of EE on GFAP and GR staining in WKY females, we suggest that EE can be used as an intervention to potentially alleviate the negative effects of depression.
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