A common misperception about the end of year holidays is that more people commit suicide during this period than at other times in the year. Since 2000, the Annenberg Public Policy Center has been tracking press reporting about this widespread belief. In the millennium year of 1999, APPC identified over 60 stories that ran during that holiday period saying that suicides do indeed spike over the holidays. These stories accounted for 77% of the stories that talked about suicide potentially being related to the holidays.

After we noted that misconception, the number of such stories dropped and stories debunking the myth grew in number. However, our latest examination of stories that ran during the last holiday season (2011-12) shows that the number is once again rising. Indeed, the proportion of stories making the link is once again at the same high level as in 1999 (76%).

Read more...

Research points to the potential for prevention

Weakness in a cognitive skill called “working memory” predicts both the initiation and the escalation of alcohol use in adolescents ages 10 to 15, according to a longitudinal study by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Working memory is the cognitive function that allows us to deliberate before acting, a process that is critical for making decisions and planning behavior. It depends heavily on parts of the brain that control impulses and allow one to consider the consequences of behavior. Past research has suggested that alcohol use during adolescence causes a reduction in this ability by adversely affecting the development of the adolescent brain.

Read more...