Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008 - (Page 19)

Letters to the editor DIVERSE SEXUAL EXPERIENCES AND SELF-HARM BEHAVIORS AMONG WOMEN IN AN INTERNAL MEDICINE SETTING DEAR EDITOR: In this study, we wished to examine in a nonpsychiatric population a possible relationship between diverse and impulsive sexual experiences and self-harm behaviors. Participants were female outpatients, ages 18 years or older, who presented for routine outpatient medical care at an ambulatory center in which residents in the Department of Internal Medicine function as the primary providers. The sample was one of convenience. Exclusion criteria (determined by the recruiters) were cognitive, psychiatric, or medical impairment that would preclude the successful completion of a survey. Participants (N=76) ranged in age from 18 to 75 years (M=42.64, SD=15.16). The majority (85.5%) was White; 11.8 percent were African-American, 1.3 percent Native American, and 1.3 percent Asian. Most participants had attained a high school diploma LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SUBMISSIONS (68.4%), 11.8 percent had a bachelor’s degree, and 6.6 percent a graduate degree. Only 24.3 percent of the sample was married, 5.4 percent were separated, 29.7 percent divorced, 12.2 percent widowed, and 28.4 percent never married. Each participant completed a four-page research booklet, which took about 10 minutes. The cover page of the booklet contained the various elements of informed consent, and completion of the booklet was assumed to be implied consent. The booklet explored the preceding demographic information as well as a diversity of sexual experiences that might reflect impulsivity. These latter queries were developed by the authors (i.e., they do not constitute a standardized questionnaire) and included a history of pregnancies (i.e., number of pregnancies, live births, births outside of marriage, miscarriages, abortions), sexual history (e.g., age of menarche, age of first intercourse, number of different lifetime sexual partners, number of treatments for a sexually transmitted disease, homosexual experiences), and history of rape. The booklet also contained the Self-Harm Inventory (SHI),1 a 22item, yes/no, self-report inventory that explores participants’ histories of self-harm behavior. Each item in the inventory is preceded by the statement, “Have you ever intentionally, or on purpose,…” and items include, “overdosed, cut yourself on purpose, burned yourself on purpose,” and “hit yourself.” The individual items are seemingly face valid. Each endorsement is in the pathological direction and the SHI total score is the summation of “yes” responses. The study was approved by the institutional review boards of both the community hospital that sponsors the internal medicine residency and the university. As for results, in this sample, scores on the SHI ranged from 0 to 15 (M=2.49, SD=3.31). The age of respondents was statistically significantly correlated with scores on the SHI (r=0-.28, p<0.02). Because age would be related to various aspects of one’s sexual experience, we partialed age out of the correlation coefficients representing the relationships between the sexual variables and self-harm scores. These semipartial correlations are presented in Table Psychiatry 2008 welcomes submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Letters should be no more than 500 words and five references. Type with double spacing. Letters that comment on a Psychiatry 2008 article will be considered if they are received within two months of the time the article was published. All letters are reviewed by the editors and are selected based upon interest, timeliness, and pertinence, as determined by the editors. There are no guarantees a letter will be published. Letters that are not intended for publication by the authors should state this in the body of the letter. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Send letters to: Elizabeth Klumpp, Executive Editor, Psychiatry 2008, editorial@matrixmedcom.com. Hard copy submissions are no longer accepted. Include the following statement with the letter: “The undersigned author transfers all copyright ownership of the enclosed/attached letter to Matrix Medical Communications in the event the work is published. The undersigned author warrants that the letter is original, is not under consideration by another journal, and has not been previously published. I sign for and accept responsibility for releasing this material on behalf of any and all co-authors.” [SEPTEMBER] Psychiatry 2008 19

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008

Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008 Editor’s Message Editorial Advisory Board Contents Psych Rx Letters to the Editor Use of Benzodiazepines in the Treatment of Anxiety Functional Neurosurgery in the Treatment of Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Major Depression: Overview of Disease Circuits and Therapeutic Targeting for the Clinician Treatment of Comorbid Adolescent Cannabis Use and Major Depressive Disorder Risperidone Long-acting Injections: Successful Alternative Deltoid Muscle Injections for Refractory Schizophrenia Alcohol/Substance Misuse and Treatment Nonadherence: Fatal Attraction Transforming the Psychiatric Inpatient Unit from Short-term Pseudo-asylum Care to State-of-the-art Treatment Setting Journal Watch Classified Advertising Information for Authors

Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.