It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, December 05, 2020
Supercomputer simulations could unlock mystery of Moon's formation
VIDEO: A CROSS SECTION OF A 3D SIMULATION RUN BY RESEARCHERS INVESTIGATING HOW A COLLISION BETWEEN THE EARLY-EARTH AND A MARS-SIZE OBJECT MIGHT HAVE LED TO THE FORMATION OF THE MOON.... view more
CREDIT: SERGIO RUIZ-BONILLA
Astronomers have taken a step towards understanding how the Moon might have formed out of a giant collision between the early Earth and another massive object 4.5 billion years ago.
Scientists led by Durham University, UK, ran supercomputer simulations on the DiRAC High-Performance Computing facility to send a Mars-sized planet - called Theia - crashing into the early Earth.
Their simulations produced an orbiting body that could potentially evolve into a Moon-like object.
While the researchers are careful to say that this is not definitive proof of the Moon's origin, they add that it could be a promising stage in understanding how our nearest neighbour might have formed.
The findings are published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The Moon is thought to have formed in a collision between the early Earth and Theia, which scientists believe might have been an ancient planet in our solar system, about the size of Mars.
Researchers ran simulations to track material from the early Earth and Theia for four days after their collision, then ran other simulations after spinning Theia like a pool ball.
The simulated collision with the early Earth produced different results depending upon the size and direction of Theia's initial spin.
At one extreme the collision merged the two objects together while at the other there was a grazing hit-and-run impact.
Importantly, the simulation where no spin was added to Theia produced a self-gravitating clump of material with a mass of about 80 per cent of the Moon, while another Moon-like object was created when a small amount of spin was added.
The resulting clump, which settles into an orbit around the post-impact Earth, would grow by sweeping up the disc of debris surrounding our planet.
The simulated clump also has a small iron core, similar to that of the Moon, with an outer layer of materials made up from the early Earth and Theia.
Recent analysis of oxygen isotope ratios in the lunar samples collected by the Apollo space missions suggests that a mixture of early Earth and impactor material might have formed the Moon.
Lead author Sergio Ruiz-Bonilla, a PhD researcher in Durham University's Institute for Computational Cosmology, said: "By adding different amounts of spin to Theia in simulations, or by having no spin at all, it gives you a whole range of different outcomes for what might have happened when the early Earth was hit by a massive object all those billions of years ago.
"It's exciting that some of our simulations produced this orbiting clump of material that is relatively not much smaller than the Moon, with a disc of additional material around the post-impact Earth that would help the clump grow in mass over time.
"I wouldn't say that this is the Moon, but it's certainly a very interesting place to continue looking."
The Durham-led research team now plan to run further simulations altering the mass, speed and spinning rate of both the target and impactor to see what effect this has on the formation of a potential Moon.
Co-author Dr Vincent Eke, of Durham University's Institute for Computational Cosmology, said: "We get a number of different outcomes depending upon whether or not we introduce spin to Theia before it crashes into the early Earth.
"It's particularly fascinating that when no spin or very little spin is added to Theia that the impact with the early Earth leaves a trail of debris behind, which in some cases includes a body large enough to deserve being called a proto-Moon.
"There may well be a number of possible collisions that have yet to be investigated that could get us even closer to understanding just how the Moon formed in the first place."
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The research was carried out with Durham University's Institute for Data Science and the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow, UK.
The high-resolution simulations were run using the SWIFT open-source simulation code. They were carried out on the DiRAC Memory Intensive service ("COSMA"), hosted by Durham University on behalf of the DiRAC High-Performance Computing facility.
The research was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.
A researcher at the University of Tartu described new associations between Neandertal DNA and autoimmune diseases, prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Modern humans migrated out of Africa more than 60,000 years ago and met and interbred with Neandertals and other archaic human groups. As a consequence, we can find that a few percent of the genomes of people outside of Africa contain traces of archaic ancestry. Large-scale resources with genetic and medical data are needed to find out how this archaic remains affect modern human health. Most previous studies have examined European population-specific cohorts. However, the Neandertal DNA content is quite different between Europeans and Asians and our knowledge limited about non-European Neandertal DNA. A new study by Senior Research Fellow of Evolutionary and Population Genomics Michael Dannemann analyzed Neandertal associated phenotypes in an Asian cohort and compared it to those discovered in a European cohort.
This study provides evidence that the impact of Neandertal DNA on the immune system has not been population-specific. "My findings show that while the Neandertal DNA in European and Asian populations differ they both contain variants that increase the risk of autoimmune diseases like dermatitis, Graves' disease and rheumatoid arthritis," said Dannemann.
Another disease for which associations were found in both populations was prostate cancer. Dannemann said that the difference is here that this gene variant had a protective effect which means it reduces the risk for prostate cancer.
Of particular interest were the Neandertal associations with type 2 diabetes, a disease influencing many people today. The result of this study showed that Neandertal-linked associations were only found in Asians and showed evidence for an over-proportional effect on this disease given the Neandertal DNA content in this population.
However, given the different associated archaic variants in both European and Asian cohorts, the results of this study also suggest that the effects of how Neandertal DNA influences immunity might be population-specific. "This is highlighting the importance of studying a wider range of ancestries to help us to ascertain how the phenotypic legacy of Neandertals influences modern humans today," added Dannemann.
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The study is part of the project "Center for Genomics, Evolution and Medicine". The Center for Genomics, Evolution and Medicine (cGEM) aims to apply advancements in genomic medicine in an evolutionarily-aware framework to account for different evolutionary pathways of populations which have led to differences in susceptibility to common diseases, like metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and cancers.
Peanut treatment lowers risk of severe allergic reactions in preschoolers
IMAGE: EXPOSING CHILDREN TO A SMALL, REGULAR DOSE OF PEANUTS IN A REAL-WORLD SETTING (OUTSIDE OF A CLINICAL TRIAL) IS EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING THE RISK OF ALLERGIC REACTIONS. view more
CREDIT: CREDIT: VLADISLAV NIKONOV/UNSPLASH
It's a peanut-filled world--or at least it can feel that way for kids with peanut allergies. But a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital gives hope to parents and kids who face real danger from exposure to peanuts.
"There's a common misperception about peanut allergies--that it's not a serious health issue. Although the risk of a fatal reaction to peanuts is low in patients with peanut allergy, it has a major impact on quality of life and many families feel hopeless in dealing with what can seem like an unmanageable problem," said the study's senior author Dr. Edmond Chan, head of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at UBC's faculty of medicine and clinical investigator at BC Children's Hospital Research Institute.
The study, recently published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, is the first to demonstrate that exposing children to a small, regular dose of an allergen (in this case, peanuts) in a real-world setting (outside of a clinical trial) is effective in reducing the risk of allergic reactions.
The treatment method, known as oral immunotherapy, involves gradually increasing the amount peanuts (or peanut products) given to the child. One treatment aim is to reach desensitization, whereby the child can ingest a full serving of peanuts without triggering a dangerous reaction. Another goal is protection in the event of an accidental exposure, and lessening or eliminating the need for epinephrine injections in response to reactions. To sustain their level of immunity, the child must continue to eat peanut products on a regular basis.
Over the course of this study, 117 preschool-age children--between the ages of 9 months and five years--with peanut allergies from across Canada received a daily maintenance dose of 300mg of peanut protein--equivalent to about one peanut or a quarter teaspoon of peanut butter.
After one year, the researchers found that nearly 80 per cent of the preschoolers were able to eat 15 peanuts (equivalent to 4000mg of peanut protein) without reaction during an allergist-supervised oral challenge. And almost every child (more than 98 per cent) who participated in the study could eat three to four peanuts without reaction, which is enough to protect from 99 per cent of accidental exposures.
Although some children in the study (21.4 percent) experienced an allergic reaction during the allergist-supervised oral challenge, the reactions were mild (14.5 per cent) or moderate (six per cent). Two children received epinephrine for moderate reactions. There were no severe reactions.
This study follows another analysis by the same researchers last year that was the first to demonstrate the safety of peanut oral immunotherapy for a large group of preschool-aged children when offered as a routine treatment in a hospital or clinic rather than within a clinical trial.
"Now, thanks to oral immunotherapy, these kids can accidentally eat something with peanut butter in it--like a cookie or cake--and not suffer a reaction, which is wonderful news for the families," said the study's lead author Dr. Lianne Soller, UBC allergy research manager based at BC Children's Hospital.
For Ravinder Dhaliwal, oral immunotherapy has been a game changer for her family and six-year old daughter, Saiya, who was diagnosed with a peanut allergy when she was still an infant.
"Before starting therapy, our lives were filled with anxiety because every outing revolved around her food allergies," said Ravinder. "Now, we can go to a restaurant or a birthday party without being in constant fear."
As one of the participants in the study, Saiya started receiving maintenance therapy in the spring of 2018, eating a small amount of peanut product every day. One year later, she was able to eat 20 peanuts in a sitting without having a reaction.
Today, Saiya is not only eating peanut butter sandwiches three times a week--she is enjoying the flavour of peanut products for the first time in her life and asking for them as a treat.
"Having gone through oral immunotherapy, I don't feel scared anymore--it's like having a shield to protect my child. The experience has been empowering for all of us," said Ravinder.
According to Chan and Soller, the earlier children undergo oral immunotherapy, the better. If left unchecked, peanut allergies most often become life-long and reactions can become more severe, which can result in social isolation, bullying, and anxiety.
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No 'one-size-fits-all solution' for children exposed to domestic violence, researchers say
Case Western Reserve University study surveyed social service professionals at more than 100 Ohio agencies to assess service needs
CLEVELAND--Some of the most affected by domestic violence are also the youngest. Each year, more than 6% of all children in the United States are exposed to domestic violence and require intervention services from various agencies, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University surveyed 105 agencies throughout Ohio to better understand service, policy and research needs--and get feedback about potential strategies to protect children from intimate partner violence.
The study's key findings yielded recommendations to include emotional and coping skills as vital parts of childhood education--not unlike how math and reading are incorporated into school curricula, according to the study's co-author Kristen Berg, a postdoctoral researcher at the university's School of Medicine and graduate of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
"Kids should be provided appropriate education from very early ages about healthy relationships, with both the self and others, and all of their ingredients," she said. "Things like understanding how to identify their own emotions, how to cope with those emotions, learning how to attune to others' emotions, safe dating behaviors, consent-based communication--from school curricula that explicitly emphasize social and emotional intelligence."
A rapidly growing body of research nationally--including at the Mandel School--has revealed that children who have been exposed to domestic violence are more likely than their peers to experience a wide range of difficulties, from fear and low self-esteem, to anger and oppositional behavior and feeling isolated in social relationships.
Berg said there's also evidence that those exposed to domestic violence tend to have higher rates of depression and anxiety, over-activated stress responses, and both victimization by and perpetration of dating violence during adolescence. Families affected by domestic violence also often experience housing instability or substance misuse, and children's education and peer relationships may be disrupted due to moves in and out of the family home.
None of this comes as a surprise to researchers or the social service professionals they surveyed.
"But that's notable in and of itself," Berg said. "By now, there have been decades of calls by clinicians and researchers to reduce fragmentation among service systems in order to best care for trauma-exposed kids and families. Our participants' responses suggest that we haven't quite figured out how to remove barriers that are thwarting that collaborative approach."
In addition, the research showed that service providers highlighted needs for increased trauma-informed care and better collaboration among service providers.
"While there might not be a one-size-fits-all solution, there are places we can start," said Megan Holmes, founding director of the Center on Trauma and Adversity and an associate professor at the Mandel School, who co-authored the study.
Gut microbiome snapshot could reveal chemical exposures in children
Study of how semi-volatile organic compounds affect bacteria and fungi reveals new relationships and bacteria used for bioremediation in children's guts
Researchers at Duke University have completed the most comprehensive study to date on how a class of persistent pollutants called semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are associated with the gut microbiome in human children.
The results show that certain SVOCs are correlated with the abundance of bacterial and fungal species living in the human digestive tract and may affect them differently, providing a potential mechanism for measuring exposure to a wide variety of these substances. The study also suggests that exposure to toxic halogenated compounds, chemicals containing carbon and a halogen such as chlorine and bromine, may create a niche for bacteria that feed off of them - bacteria that are not usually found in the human gut.
"We found bacteria that researchers use for soil bioremediation to remove chlorinated solvents, which is not an organism that you would expect to find in somebody's gut," said Claudia Gunsch, the Theodore Kennedy Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke. "The reason it's used in soils is to detoxify and remove chlorines, which suggests that maybe that's also exactly why they're in these guts."
The results appear online on October 30 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
"We want to understand the impacts of exposure to SVOCs on our gut microbiome and how that translates to positive or negative health outcomes," Gunsch said. "But right now it's a big black box that we don't understand."
SVOCs are a broad class of odorless chemicals that are emitted from building materials and consumer products, often slowly evaporating and settling on dust particles and water droplets. Almost everyone in the developed world is exposed regularly to at least some of these compounds, due to their common use in industrial and consumer products.
The thought that these chemicals might have effects on the human microbiome and impact health is relatively new, and the research to uncover what these may be and why they occur is still in its infancy. One important line of work is aimed at children because they typically have higher exposure rates, due to spending more time playing on dusty floors where SVOCs accumulate, and because their growing bodies are more susceptible to novel environmental stressors.
One avenue for causing turbulence in a growing child's life is through affecting the gut microbiome. Made up of the complex communities of bacteria and fungi growing and living together throughout the human digestive tract, the gut microbiome has been shown to have a clear importance to childhood development as well as adult health. While some studies have already shown that certain SVOCs have an impact on the gut microbiome of children, the chemicals studied are just a tiny fraction of those that people are exposed to.
"In theory, perturbations in the gut microbiome of children might be associated with long-term health impacts," added Courtney Gardner, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Washington State University, who conducted the study while still a member of Gunsch's laboratory. "But before we can really study any of them for clear causations, we need to get a sense of which SVOC classes seem to be the most negatively associated with microbiome communities."
In their first explorative foray into this field, Gunsch, Gardner and their colleagues at Duke measured the levels of dozens of SVOCs circulating in the bodies of almost 80 children between the ages of three and six. They also characterized each of the children's gut microbiome and then looked for relationships between the differences they found and exposures to SVOCs.
There wasn't any shortage of data to work with, as the researchers found 29 SVOC compounds in more than 95% of the samples taken. They also found relationships between the compounds present in children's blood or urine and the relative amounts of key microbes, including 61 bacteria and 24 fungi. After working through the various biomarkers and relationships, the researchers came away with two interesting insights.
The first was that children with high levels of halogenated SVOCs have some unusual guests in their guts.
The researchers also found that while some SVOCs had a negative effect on bacteria in the gut microbiome, others had a positive effect. With more research into exactly how these various chemicals affect the different species of the gut in their own ways, this work may provide the possibility of using a snapshot of the gut's microbial community as a window into what SVOCs a child has been exposed to.
"It's currently really complicated and expensive to measure what chemicals people have been exposed to if you don't already know what you're looking for," said Gunsch. "By contrast, this is pretty simple. If we could get a reliable snapshot of SVOC exposure just by sequencing a microbiome's genetic signature, we could use that to help us understand more about the health impacts these chemicals have on our children and ourselves."
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Children with dyslexia show stronger emotional responses
Syndrome can confer neurological strengths as well as challenges, researchers say
Children diagnosed with dyslexia show greater emotional reactivity than children without dyslexia, according to a new collaborative study by UC San Francisco neuroscientists with the UCSF Dyslexia Center and UCSF Memory and Aging Center.
In the study, published online in an early form November 20, 2020 in Cortex, children with dyslexia who watched emotionally evocative videos showed increased physiological and behavioral responses when compared to children without dyslexia. This higher emotional reactivity was correlated with stronger connectivity in the brain's salience network, a system that supports emotion generation and self-awareness.
The results broaden current conceptualizations of typical dyslexia and suggest the syndrome is much more complex than just a weakness in reading skills, adding support to the growing awareness that dyslexia is often associated with hidden interpersonal strengths.
"There are anecdotes that some kids with dyslexia have greater social and emotional intelligence," said Virginia Sturm, PhD, the John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation Endowed Professor in the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. "We don't want to say that all kids with dyslexia are necessarily gifted in this way, but we can think about dyslexia as being associated with both strengths and weaknesses."
The researchers recruited 32 children between the ages of 8 and 12 with the classic "phonological" form of dyslexia to participate in the study, as well as 22 children without dyslexia. The team tested the children with dyslexia to confirm that they all had difficulty reading, assess their comprehension of emotional terms and measure their performance on a range of cognitive tests. Children and parents also responded to questionnaires regarding their emotional and mental health.
At the UCSF Dyslexia Center, the children were fitted with sensors to monitor breathing, skin conductance, and heart rate, and their facial expressions were filmed as they viewed short film clips designed to elicit specific positive and negative emotions such as amusement and disgust. For example, they watched a baby laughing and a woman who was about to vomit.
The researchers found that the children with dyslexia displayed greater emotional facial behavior and were more physiologically reactive while watching the film clips than children without dyslexia. In addition, functional MRI scans of the children's brain activity revealed that the children who were most expressive had stronger connectivity between the right anterior insula and the right anterior cingulate cortex - key structures in the salience network that support emotion generation and self-awareness. In the children with dyslexia, those with stronger emotional facial expressions also had greater parent-reported social skills but also greater symptoms of anxiety and depression.
These findings suggest that many children with dyslexia may possess strengths around social acumen, since stronger emotional responses can be a key element of successful social relationships. Some adults with dyslexia report that that they made it through school by "charming their teachers". This ability to make social connections, often interpreted as a purely compensatory strategy, could instead be a sign of enhanced emotional abilities at a neurological level.
Still, a dyslexia diagnosis is not a guarantee of social success. As the parent reports indicate, higher emotional reactivity and sensitivity can also be a risk factor for developing anxiety and depression, as these children could possibly be detecting emotional cues differently from neurotypical individuals. One more reason to make sure that these children are protected and appropriately served in schools, college but even in the work place as adults
"The message for families is that this condition may be defined by its negative effects on reading, but we need to look more deeply and broadly to all brain functions in dyslexia in order to gain a better understanding of associated strengths and identify effective remediation strategies," said Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini, MD, PhD, the Charles Schwab Distinguished Professor in Dyslexia and Neurodevelopment and co-director of the UCSF Dyslexia Center and the UCSF-UCB Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center.
"Our findings have implications for education for children with dyslexia," said Sturm, also an associate professor in the UCSF departments of Neurology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, whose work has previously focused on emotion processing in the aging brain. "We need to base teaching on strengths as well as weaknesses. For example, kids with dyslexia may do better in one-on-one or group teaching scenarios depending on how they connect emotionally with teachers or peers. But we also need to be aware of their vulnerability to anxiety and depression and be sure they have adequate support to process their potentially strong emotions."
The researchers have other questions that they hope to answer. In future work they will attempt to determine whether emotional reactivity leads to increased empathy. The researchers hope that in better understanding social and emotional processing and other strengths in dyslexia they will be able to develop more targeted interventions and decrease stigma towards this condition.
Despite some unanswered questions, the study is a major advance in our understanding of dyslexia, the researchers say. It also demonstrates the effectiveness of the growing integration of UCSF's clinical and basic neuroscience community across departments under the umbrella of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and across UC campuses through the UCSF-UCB Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center.
"It's novel for a medical institution to take on dyslexia because it's often considered an academic and educational problem. But dyslexia is based in the brain and we need an integrated approach between neurology, psychiatry, psychology and education to better serve these children and their families," said Gorno-Tempini, who is also a professor of neurology and of psychiatry and behavioral and director of the Language Neurobiology Laboratory at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. "Whenever I share these results with families they are astounded because it helps them understand that dyslexia is about far more than academic challenges -- it's about having a particular kind of brain with its own strengths and weaknesses, just like all of us."
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Authors: Sturm was the study's lead and corresponding author. Gorno-Tempini is the study's senior author. For a full listing of authors see study online.
Funding: The research was supported by the UCSF Dyslexia Center, the Schwab Family, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS R01NS050915); and the National Institutes of Health (NIH K24DC015544).
Disclosures: The authors report no competing interests.
About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. Learn more at ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet.
New research reveals that some primary school-aged children have self-harmed, prompting calls for intervention efforts to start earlier.
Led by researchers at the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), the study assessed more than 1200 children living in Melbourne, Australia, each year from age 8-9 years (wave 1) to 11-12 years (wave 4).
Data were drawn from the MCRI Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study, a longitudinal study with a broad focus on health, education and social adjustment as children make the transition from childhood to adolescence.
The recent study is published today in PLOS ONE and found three per cent of students (28/1059) reported self-harm in grade 6, at age 11 and 12 years. Of those who self-harmed, two thirds (64.3 per cent) were females and one third (35.7 per cent) were males.
In the first three waves of the study (grades 3-5), predictors of future self-harm in grade 6 included persistent symptoms of depression or anxiety, bullying and alcohol consumption.
In the more recent survey (wave 4), associations with self-harm were having few friends, poor emotional control, engaging in anti-social behaviour and being in mid-late puberty.
Participants who reported having few friends, and those who had experienced bullying victimisation, were seven and 24 times more likely to have self-harmed at age 11-12 years, respectively.
In terms of mental health, participants who self-harmed were also more than seven times more likely to report depressive symptoms and five times more likely to report anxiety than their peers who had not self-harmed.
Lead researcher Dr Rohan Borschmann said the findings suggested that mental health, puberty and peer relationships were most strongly associated with self-harm among primary school-aged children.
"Previous studies have focused specifically on children who have sought treatment for mental health problems, or focused on adolescents and young people," Dr Borschmann said.
"Ours is the first study to estimate the prevalence of self-harm among primary school-aged children in the general community, and it sheds light on the impact of peer relationship (including bullying), mental health problems, and puberty on children.
"The transition from childhood to adolescence is a critical time for kids and challenging experiences can have a huge impact on their self-esteem and friendships during this development phase."
Senior author Professor George Patton said the study highlighted the importance of early intervention strategies being introduced in primary school.
"These days many high schools participate in mental health and resilience programs, but our research shows that prevention strategies are needed much earlier," Professor Patton said. "Promoting and nurturing better relationships with other students is also particularly important."
The researchers note that the sample was slightly skewed towards higher socioeconomic status and had a higher percentage of participants who identified as Indigenous than the general Australian population.
If you or anyone you know needs help or support, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14."
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In a holiday season unlike any other, avoid unfounded claims about suicide
The suicide rate usually drops at holiday time
ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
IMAGE: FIGURE 1. PERCENTAGE OF HOLIDAY-SEASON STORIES SUPPORTING THE HOLIDAY-SUICIDE MYTH VS. THOSE DEBUNKING IT, IN 21 HOLIDAY SEASONS RUNNING FROM NOVEMBER 1999 THROUGH JANUARY 2020. EXCLUDES STORIES CITING BOTH IN... view more
CREDIT: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
The holiday season usually has the lowest monthly suicide rates. And while the COVID-19 pandemic has increased risk factors associated with suicide, the media and the public should be careful this holiday season not to make unfounded claims about suicide trends.
Last year, during the holidays and before the pandemic, about half of the newspaper stories that connected the holidays and suicide contained misinformation falsely perpetuating the myth that suicide increases over the holidays, according to a new analysis by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.
"News stories must always be careful not to sensationalize suicide," said APPC Research Director Dan Romer, who has been tracking holiday-season press coverage about suicide for over two decades. "Creating the false impression that suicide is more likely than it is can have adverse consequences for already-vulnerable individuals. This potential danger is even more critical this year, when COVID-19 has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in the United States alone."
Though the pandemic has increased factors associated with suicide such as unemployment, financial stress, and social isolation, there is no clear evidence to date that it has increased the suicide rate, so caution is needed when reporting on this, as noted recently in The Lancet Psychiatry. In addition, a study found that suicide rates did not increase during the Massachusetts lockdown in March, April, and May, while a BMJ editorial reviewing national suicide trends during the early months of the pandemic found either no rise or a fall in suicide rates in high-income countries, including the United States.
Suicide, the myth, and the media
For decades, the holiday season has had some of the lowest suicide rates, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC data from 2018, the latest available, show that the month with the lowest average daily suicide rate was December (12th in suicide rate). The next-lowest rates were in November (11th) and January (10th). In 2018, the highest rates were in June, July, and August - respectively, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. (See Figure 2 and Table 1.)
The 2019-2020 APPC analysis found that the 33 articles linking the holidays and suicide were almost evenly split - 17 upheld the myth (52%) while 16 debunked it (48%). (See Figure 1.) By contrast, the prior year a greater percentage debunked the myth (68%) than supported it (32%).
APPC has analyzed news coverage of the holiday-suicide myth for 21 years, since the 1999-2000 holiday season. In most years, more newspapers upheld the myth than debunked it. In only three of those years did more than 60 percent of the news stories debunk the myth.
Perpetuating the holiday-suicide myth
Romer noted that the inaccurate stories this year predominantly appeared in smaller news outlets. These stories frequently featured unsupported claims made by community members, columnists, and letters-to-the-editor writers.
"News outlets often publish well-intentioned stories and features at this time of year designed to help people who find the holiday season emotionally difficult," Romer said. "But they need to be careful to avoid a false connection between the holiday or winter blues that some people experience and suicide. Years of U.S. data show that the suicide rate drops at this time of year."
The false connection between the holidays and suicide can be seen in examples such as these:
According to The Aegis, in Bel Air, Md., a councilman from the city of Havre de Grace, Md., "noted that suicides in the wider community tend to increase around the Christmas and New Year's holidays, so he urged local residents to contact Harford County's Crisis Hotline..." (December 4, 2019)
A column in the Eunice (La.) News on "suicide prevention and facts" coming from the parish sheriff's office says that "there is no single cause for suicide but the risk of suicide often rises during holidays." (December 14, 2019)
A "thumbs up, thumbs down" column in the Standard-Examiner of Ogden, Utah, reads in part: "Thumbs down: This time of year can be difficult for many, whether it's due to a recent family loss, greater sense of loneliness, or other personal struggles. This means it's typical to see increasing numbers of suicide attempts and death by suicide in Utah." (December 28, 2019)
The Hutchinson News in Kansas ran a column on the holiday mood in which the writer said: "Years ago, when I served as a pastoral counselor, in a private therapy practice with two clinical psychologists, our most demanding time was the holiday season. Indeed, suicides spiked during that time of year." (December 17, 2019)
Debunking the myth
Not all stories make the false connection. For instance:
In a story about mental health concerns at holiday time, a reporter for the Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, Mass.) included a quote that debunked the myth: "While many believe that more people kill themselves around the holidays, Annemarie Matulis, director of the Bristol County Regional Coalition for Suicide Prevention, said research shows that more people commit suicide in the warmer months. 'It is a myth that more people die by suicide this time of year,' Matulis said." (December 29, 2019)
A story in the Star-Courier (Kewanee, Ill.) about suicide prevention noted: "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the holiday months usually have some of the lowest suicide rates, but an Annenberg Public Policy Center analysis of newspaper coverage showed 64% of stories perpetuated the myth that suicides increase during the holidays." (December 13, 2019)
COVID-19 and Seasonal Affective Disorder
Some news stories discuss the "winter blues" and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). But it is possible to reference the holiday blues without drawing connections to an increase in suicide. For example, a column in November by New York Times health writer Jane Brody successfully described the effects of the seasonal blues without suggesting that it leads to suicide.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased stress levels and has left people feeling both more anxious and depressed, Romer said. But in times of stress, people also find support from friends and family that can help to overcome those risks for suicide.
Romer said it's important that reporters and news organizations debunk the myth, because letting people think that suicide is more likely during the holidays can have contagious effects on individuals who are contemplating suicide. National recommendations for reporting on suicide advise journalists not to promote information that can increase contagion, such as reports of epidemics or seasonal increases, especially when the claim has no basis in fact. These recommendations, developed by journalism and suicide-prevention groups along with the Annenberg Public Policy Center, say that reporters should consult reliable sources such as the CDC on suicide rates and provide information about resources that can help people in need.
Journalists helping to dispel the holiday-suicide myth can provide resources for readers who are in or know of someone who is in a potential crisis. Among those offering valuable information are the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/suicide/holiday.html), the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (http://www.sprc.org) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/suicide-prevention). The U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-TALK (8255). The Federal Communications Commission has approved a plan to create a three-digit phone number, 988, for suicide prevention but it is not yet in operation.
Methodology
News and feature stories linking suicide with the holidays were identified through searches of both the LexisNexis and NewsBank databases. The searches used the terms "holiday" and "suicide" and (Christmas or Thanksgiving or New Year*) from November 15, 2019, through January 31, 2020.
The search originally used only the LexisNexis database, but was expanded in 2019 to include NewsBank to provide greater coverage of the U.S. press. Using this expanded database search, a reanalysis of prior years, including 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18, did not substantially alter the proportion of stories that debunked or supported the myth.
Researchers determined whether the stories supported the link, debunked it, or showed a coincidental link. Coincidental stories were eliminated. Only domestic suicides were counted; overseas suicide bombings, for example, were excluded.
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Thanks go to Lauren Hawkins and Madison Russ, who collected and supervised the coding of the stories, and to Savanna Grinspun, Madeline Ip, Chidi Nwogbaga, and Maria Perilla for assistance in coding. We also appreciate the assistance of Sharon Black of Penn's Annenberg School for Communication, who provided technical support, and of Alex Crosby and his colleagues at the CDC for providing monthly rates of suicide in the United States.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about communication's role in advancing public understanding of political, science, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels.
