The ASAP intervention program shows promise in reducing the incidence of postdischarge suicide attempts among adolescents hospitalized for suicidality and merits further study.

We examined hopelessness as a predictor of suicide ideation in depressed youth after acute medication treatment. A total of 158 depressed adolescents were administered the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) and Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) as part of a larger battery at baseline and at weekly visits across 6 weeks of acute fluoxetine treatment. The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) was administered at baseline and week 6. A negative binomial regression model via a generalized estimating equation analysis of repeated measures was used to estimate suicide ideation over the 6 weeks of acute treatment from baseline measure of hopelessness. Depression severity and gender were included as covariates in the model. The negative binomial analysis was also conducted separately for the sample of males and females (in a gender-stratified analysis). Mean CDRS-R total scores were 60.30 ± 8.93 at baseline and 34.65 ± 10.41 at week 6. Mean baseline and week 6 BHS scores were 9.57 ± 5.51 and 5.59 ± 5.38, respectively. Per the C-SSRS, 43.04% and 83.54% reported having no suicide ideation at baseline and at week 6, respectively. The analyses revealed that baseline hopelessness was positively related to suicide ideation over treatment (p = .0027), independent of changes in depression severity. This significant finding persisted only for females (p = .0024). These results indicate the importance of early identification of hopelessness.

The prevalence of allergic rhinitis is increasing. Many authors have noted the prevalence of hay fever is less in children from large families and the 'hygiene hypothesis' has been suggested as an explanation. We looked at the association of sibling number and other variables on the prevalence of hay fever and perennial rhinitis. From 26100 households selected at random, 34362 questionnaires were returned from individuals over 14 years of age; 19.3% had symptoms of hay fever and a further 6.0% had symptoms of perennial rhinitis. A logistic regression analysis showed that for individuals with two or more siblings, the odds of suffering from hay fever are less than the odds for people with no siblings and that these odds decrease as the number of siblings increases. This effect was not found in subjects with perennial rhinitis. This study adds weight to the 'hygiene hypothesis'.