Posts

Ballot Measure to Change Mental Health in State Could Backfire, Cohen Says

In a story about the potential impact of Proposition 1, UCLA Luskin’s David Cohen discussed the implications of an effort to reform California’s mental health system. The statewide ballot measure is backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a step in solving the state’s homelessness crisis. But opponents say it would siphon money away from preventative mental health to add psychiatric institutions and promote involuntary treatment. Researchers like Cohen see involuntary or coerced care as counterproductive. “Few who review the existing evidence conclude that on balance, involuntary treatment improves the lives of those who experience it,” said Cohen, a professor of social welfare and associate dean. People contending with mental health issues can be traumatized by enforced treatment. “Being deprived of freedom is maddening. Being robbed of credibility is humiliating.” Plus, studies show that suicidal people who are institutionalized may actually be at heightened risk of self-harm upon discharge.


 

Astor on Schools’ Role in Preventing Bullying, Suicide

A Washington Post story about legal actions taken by parents whose bullied children took their own lives cited Ron Avi Astor, UCLA professor of social welfare and education and an expert in school safety. Many families and political leaders argue that schools have a legal obligation to keep children safe. Across the country, several parents who lost children to suicide have won financial settlements from school districts, with some campuses enacting new anti-bullying programs and policies to protect students from harm. Astor said that suicide prevention efforts are also critical, especially as students increasingly report suicidal thoughts and plans. “Schools need to know that’s a separate and really important thing to do,” he said.


 

Kaplan on Mass Shooting in Maine

Mark Kaplan, professor emeritus of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, joined Spectrum News 1 to discuss the recent mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, the deadliest mass shooting this year in the United States. Putting the tragedy into a larger context, Kaplan noted that in 2023 there have already been more than 600 mass shootings across the nation, “and we’re not even done with the year yet.” That number is more than double the approximately 300 mass shootings from just five years ago, he said. Kaplan also discussed the national assault weapon ban, which was allowed to expire in 2004, citing a significant decrease in mass shootings during the decade the ban was in effect. “My research shows that the more guns, the greater the risk of these incidents occurring,” Kaplan said. “There’s empirical evidence that standardizing a federal ban on assault weapons could go a long way in reducing the mayhem, the carnage.”


 

Kaplan on Rising Rate of Suicide in Older Americans

Mark Kaplan, professor emeritus of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, joined a KCBS Radio broadcast on the increase in suicides nationwide, especially for those ages 45 to 64. Last year, more people than ever died by suicide in the U.S., with a significant increase for that age group, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kaplan noted that from 2000 to 2018 there was a 37% increase in national suicide rates for men and women of all ages. Despite a drop seen between 2018 and 2020, a reversal followed, said Kaplan, “so long-term trends don’t look very good.” He added, “The suicide rate increases especially for men. It goes up as you get older. … So perhaps the population that deserves to be looked at with a closer lens is the older adult group.”


 

Kaplan on Rising Rate of Alcohol-Related Deaths Among U.S. Women

Mark Kaplan, professor emeritus of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, commented in a WebMD article on a new Hofstra University-based study that found U.S. women are dying of alcohol-related causes at a growing rate. Overall, men were nearly three times more likely to die from alcohol-related issues, but the rate of increase in alcohol-related deaths in women grew at a faster pace in the latest years studied. Kaplan said the new study was strong and recommended that future research “focus on some of the issues that may have to do with social circumstances.” The article also cited a 2022 study co-authored by Kaplan, who was not part of the Hofstra study. Kaplan and fellow researchers analyzed more than 115,000 deaths by suicide from 2003 to 2018 and found that the proportion of those deaths involving alcohol at a level above the legal limit increased annually for women in all age groups, but not for men.

Kaplan on Men’s Mental Health and Suicide

Mark Kaplan, professor of social welfare, spoke on WJCT News’ podcast “What’s Health Got to Do With It” in an episode dedicated to mental health care for men. The podcast focused specifically on suicide rates for men in the United States, a health care story that has been an “unspoken subject,” according to the show’s host. Suicide for men in the U.S. is an “underappreciated major public health crisis,” said Kaplan, whose work has focused on using population-wide data to understand suicide risk factors among veterans, seniors and other vulnerable populations. Kaplan noted that men die of suicide at a rate four times higher than women, but, he said, “When you look at age specific groups — once you get into older adulthood — the ratio is up, 12 to one.” Citing Centers for Disease Control data, Kaplan said that death by suicide is “strikingly a male phenomena” and that a distinguishing factor is their use of firearms around the world.


 

UCLA Study Highlights How Alcohol Use Contributes to Firearm-Involved Suicide

A new UCLA study shows an association between acute alcohol use and a higher probability of firearm-involved suicide in the United States. The findings published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s online open-access journal, JAMA Network Open, also suggest a point of alcohol intoxication where individuals have a lower degree of motor coordination, resulting in a lower probability of using a firearm in suicide. As alcohol consumption increases, the probability of a firearm-involved suicide normally increases. But at a specific blood alcohol concentration level — around 0.40 grams per deciliter (g/dL) for men and 0.30 g/dL for women — the probability starts to decrease. The study was co-authored by Mark S. Kaplan, professor of social welfare, and Shannon Lange of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. “Our study is a unique and important contribution to our understanding of risk factors associated with suicides involving firearms, which account for over half of all suicides — more than 47,000 in 2021 — in the United States,” Kaplan said. In the cross-sectional study, the dose-response relationship between blood alcohol concentration and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide is described as an inverted U-shape for both male and female decedents. The study used mortality data from the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2003-2020.  The analyses were restricted to solitary or single-victim suicides among men and women 18 years and older. The authors urge interventions targeting heavy alcohol use, which may bolster efforts to reduce the suicide mortality rate, particularly those involving a firearm.

Read the full report

Kaplan on High Rate of Suicide Among White Men

Mark Kaplan, professor of social welfare, spoke to KERA News about alarmingly high rates of suicide from gun violence in North Texas cities. Over half of the suicides reported in Collin Country, Tarrant County and Dallas County involved a gun. While white men make up about 20% of Collin County’s population, they accounted for 70% of suicides. Kaplan, who researches suicide risk, said men have a higher likelihood of dying by suicide than women. Major life events can serve as a catalyst for a person to commit suicide, he said. Often, suicides are not planned but are the culmination of stressful events paired with mental health issues, leading to a “death of despair.” “The presence of a gun, either in a household or lots of guns in the community, increases the likelihood of a gun death, either homicide, suicide or unintentional,” Kaplan said.


 

A Rise in Alcohol-Involved Suicides Among Women

An article in Spectrum, the online magazine of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, showcased research co-authored by Social Welfare Professor Mark Kaplan showing that suicide deaths involving heavy alcohol use have increased significantly among women in the United States in recent years. The study included data from the National Violent Death Reporting System, in which 115,202 suicides of adults 18 and older were reported between 2003 and 2018. Suicides among people who had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or greater were considered alcohol-involved. During the study period, the proportion of alcohol-involved suicides significantly increased each year for women of all age groups, with the greatest increase among women over age 65. In contrast, only middle-aged men had a significant yearly increase in alcohol-involved suicides. The findings point to a need for more education and awareness of the relationship between heavy alcohol use and suicide, as well as improved screening and intervention strategies.


 

Akee Is Among Equitable Growth Award Recipients

Randall Akee, associate professor of public policy, is among those sharing this year’s research grants totaling more than $1 million from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. The funding is for research relating to inequality’s impact on economic growth and stability. A study of “deaths of despair” among Native Americans, particularly women and girls, will be conducted by three academic researchers and Akee, who is chair of the American Indian Studies Interdepartmental Program at UCLA. In their funding proposal, the researchers said they plan to investigate why such deaths are proportionately higher for Native Americans than among other ethnic groups in the United States. Researchers will examine whether the known predictors of a death of despair for white constituents, especially men — joblessness, high rates of unemployment — are different than those for Native American women and girls. The study will also focus on the oil fracking industry and whether fracking in proximity to Native American lands induces more human trafficking activity. This, in turn, might also induce coping behaviors such as increased alcohol and substance use that could lead to higher rates of suicides among Native American women and girls, according to the research proposal. Equitable Growth has seeded more than $8.8 million to nearly 350 scholars through its competitive grants program since its founding in 2013. According to the organization’s news release, this year’s 42 grantees include economists and social scientists who currently serve as faculty or are postdoctoral scholars and Ph.D. students at U.S. colleges and universities, as well as scholars from government research agencies.