The seriousness of suicide attempts was evaluated in 62 consecutive referrals in 2 general hospitals. As measured by the Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) the majority of cases had a low to moderate intention to die. Increasing age, psychosis and deliberate self-injury were associated with high suicidal intent. Hopelessness and a sense of isolation are significantly more frequent antecedent ideo-affective states in cases with high intent and anger and frustration are more prevalent in cases with low intent. Two other measures of seriousness, the medical condition on admission and lethality of the method used, correlate significantly with the degree of intent. The SIS can distinguish between relatively homogeneous subgroups of suicide attempters for depth studies of aetiology and management.

In this study the relationship between cigarette smoking and certain elements of psychiatric morbidity, especially anxiety and depressive symptoms, was investigated among a sample of adolescents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The sample of the study consisted of 473 male secondary school students in the city of Ras Al-Kheima, UAE. Mean age of participants was 16.67 (SD=1.07). They completed the Arabic version of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) as well as other demographic information. Data analysis, using oneway ANOVA, revealed significantly higher reported symptoms by smokers compared with those who never smoked and those who started and stopped. The difference between those who smoked and stopped and those who never smoked was also significant.