Agricultural Adaptation in Sri Lanka: Psychological and Environmental Influences

BackgroundSusceptibility to depression results from genetic and non-familially shared environmental influences in high-income, Western countries. Environments may play a different role for populations in different contexts.AimsTo examine heritability of depression in the first large, population-based twin study in a low-income country.MethodLifetime depression and a broader measure of depression susceptibility (D-probe) were assessed in 3908 adult twins in Sri Lanka (the CoTASS study).ResultsThere were gender differences for the broad definition (D-probe), with a higher genetic contribution in females (61%) than males (4%). Results were similar for depression, but the prevalence was too low to estimate heritability for males.ConclusionsGenetic influences on depression in women appear to be at least as strong in this Sri Lankan sample as in higher-income countries. Conclusions are less clear for men but suggest a larger role for environments rather than genes. The nature as well as the magnitude of environmental influences may also differ across populations.

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An economic analysis of agricultural adaptation to climate change impacts in Sri Lanka: An endogenous switching regression analysis

Land Use Policy ◽

10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105601 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 109 ◽

pp. 105601

Author(s):

Kanesh Suresh ◽

Uttam Khanal ◽

Clevo Wilson ◽

Shunsuke Managi ◽

Annette Quayle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Regression Analysis ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Economic Analysis ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Switching Regression ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change ◽

Endogenous Switching Regression ◽

Agricultural Adaptation ◽

Endogenous Switching

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Abstract #604: Detection of Cardiovascular Risk Factors by Anthropometric Measures in Adults Living in an Urban Setting in Sri Lanka

Endocrine Practice ◽

10.1016/s1530-891x(20)42668-0 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

pp. 114-115

Author(s):

Kavinga Gunawardane ◽

Noel Somasundaram ◽

Neil Thalagala ◽

Pubudu Chulasiri ◽

Sudath Fernando

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cardiovascular Risk ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Cardiovascular Risk Factors ◽

Urban Setting ◽

Anthropometric Measures

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Prevalence of Suicidal Ideation in Sri Lanka

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 30-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sudath Samaraweera ◽

Athula Sumathipala ◽

Sisira Siribaddana ◽

S. Sivayogan ◽

Dinesh Bhugra

Keyword(s):

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

General Population ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

National Average ◽

The West ◽

Suicide Methods ◽

Suicide Rates ◽

Completed Suicide ◽

The World

Background: Suicidal ideation can often lead to suicide attempts and completed suicide. Studies have shown that Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world but so far no studies have looked at prevalence of suicidal ideation in a general population in Sri Lanka. Aims: We wanted to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation by randomly selecting six Divisional Secretariats (Dss) out of 17 in one district. This district is known to have higher than national average rates of suicide. Methods: 808 participants were interviewed using Sinhala versions of GHQ-30 and Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Of these, 387 (48%) were males, and 421 (52%) were female. Results: On Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation, 29 individuals (4%) had active suicidal ideation and 23 (3%) had passive suicidal ideation. The active suicidal ideators were young, physically ill and had higher levels of helplessness and hopelessness. Conclusions: The prevalence of suicidal ideation in Sri Lanka is lower than reported from the West and yet suicide rates are higher. Further work must explore cultural and religious factors.

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Suicide on the Indian Subcontinent

Crisis ◽

10.1027//0227-5910.23.3.104 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 104-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Murad M. Khan

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Indian Subcontinent ◽

Interpersonal Relationship ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Elderly Subjects ◽

Important Public Health Problem ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Formidable Challenge ◽

Causative Factors

Summary: The Indian subcontinent comprises eight countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the Maldives) and a collective population of more than 1.3 billion people. 10% of the world's suicides (more than 100,000 people) take place in just three of these countries, viz. India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. There is very little information on suicides from the other four countries. Some differences from suicides in Western countries include the high use of organophosphate insecticides, larger numbers of married women, fewer elderly subjects, and interpersonal relationship problems and life events as important causative factors. There is need for more and better information regarding suicide in the countries of the Indian subcontinent. In particular, studies must address culture-specific risk factors associated with suicide in these countries. The prevention of this important public health problem in an area of the world with myriad socio-economic problems, meager resources, and stigmatization of mental illness poses a formidable challenge to mental health professionals, policy makers, and governments of these countries.

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Behavioral Testing of Mice Concerning Anxiety and Depression

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000215 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 223 (3) ◽

pp. 151-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nina Schweinfurth ◽

Undine E. Lang

Keyword(s):

Environmental Influences ◽

Sickness Behavior ◽

Laboratory Research ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Housing Conditions ◽

Human Beings ◽

Behavioral Testing ◽

New Developments ◽

Animal Trials ◽

Resilience Factors

Abstract. In the development of new psychiatric drugs and the exploration of their efficacy, behavioral testing in mice has always shown to be an inevitable procedure. By studying the behavior of mice, diverse pathophysiological processes leading to depression, anxiety, and sickness behavior have been revealed. Moreover, laboratory research in animals increased at least the knowledge about the involvement of a multitude of genes in anxiety and depression. However, multiple new possibilities to study human behavior have been developed recently and improved and enable a direct acquisition of human epigenetic, imaging, and neurotransmission data on psychiatric pathologies. In human beings, the high influence of environmental and resilience factors gained scientific importance during the last years as the search for key genes in the development of affective and anxiety disorders has not been successful. However, environmental influences in human beings themselves might be better understood and controllable than in mice, where environmental influences might be as complex and subtle. The increasing possibilities in clinical research and the knowledge about the complexity of environmental influences and interferences in animal trials, which had been underestimated yet, question more and more to what extent findings from laboratory animal research translate to human conditions. However, new developments in behavioral testing of mice involve the animals’ welfare and show that housing conditions of laboratory mice can be markedly improved without affecting the standardization of results.

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