UNASSIGNED: Despite being relatively rare in our country, murder-suicide phenomena have garnered increasing media attention over the years. However, actual data on their prevalence and characteristics remain limited. This study aims to describe and characterize all murder/suicide events reported at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the Province of Messina, with a particular focus on distinguishing between cases of filicide/suicide and dyadic deaths.
UNASSIGNED: A retrospective observational analysis of judicial cases from 2018 to 2023 was conducted. Injuries were primarily localized to the head, neck, and chest for women, and to the head for men. In the case of filicides, death occurred through an asphyxiation mechanism, followed by the mother\'s suicide by hanging or falling.
UNASSIGNED: Within the scope of the medical examiner\'s activities, it is clear that acquiring more information through a standardized technical investigation and adopting a uniform approach could enhance the quality of the forensic service provided daily. This improvement, which would be in the interest of institutions and civil society, could be achieved through the sharing of procedures at both national and international levels.

UNASSIGNED: Dual harm is the co-occurrence of self-harm and aggression during an individual\'s lifetime. It is unclear whether sufficient evidence exists for dual harm as a unique clinical entity. This systematic review aimed to examine whether there are psychological factors that are uniquely associated with dual harm when compared to those who have engaged in sole harm (self-harm alone, aggression alone) and no harmful behaviours. Our secondary aim was to conduct a critical appraisal of the literature.
UNASSIGNED: The review searched PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, and EThOS on September 27, 2022, resulting in 31 eligible papers that represented 15,094 individuals. An adapted version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was used to assess risk of bias and a narrative synthesis was conducted.
UNASSIGNED: The included studies assessed differences in mental health problems, personality, and emotion related factors between the different behavioural groups. We found weak evidence that dual harm is an independent construct with unique psychological characteristics. Rather, our review suggests that dual harm results from the interaction of psychological risk factors that are associated with self-harm and aggression.
UNASSIGNED: The critical appraisal identified numerous limitations within the dual harm literature. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are provided.
UNASSIGNED: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=197323, identifier CRD42020197323.