Victimization in Childhood as a Suicide Risk Factor in Adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S291-S291
Author(s):  
G. Dedic

ObjectiveLittle is known about the predictive association between victimization among children and adolescents with depression and suicidal ideation in adults. The aim of our study was to examine whether victimization in childhood and early adolescence increases the likelihood of self-harming in adults.MethodThe sample consisted of 82 patients, 65 females and 17 males, aged 38.02 ± 11.05 years on average, hospitalized in Daily hospital. The juvenile victimization questionnaire (JVQ), defense style questionnaire (DSQ) and Beck depression inventory were applied in 48 patients following suicide attempt and in 34 patients who were on psychotherapeutic treatment due to various life crises not resulting in suicide attempt. According to indication, we excluded patients with psychosis, substances abuse and dementia. The examinees of both groups were matched by age, education, professional and marital status. Comparison of the patient groups was done by t-test.ResultsThe suicide attempters were depressed (Beck depression inventory 19.13 ± 10.20), using immature defense mechanisms (P < 0.005). The JVQ established statistically differences in two general areas: Peer and Sibling Victimization (P < 0.001) and sexual victimization (P < 0.05).ConclusionEven after controlling for lifetime factors known to increase the risk of suicidal behavior, adults who reported peer and sibling and sexual victimization in childhood were still more likely than other adults to attempt suicide later in life. Psychotherapists must understand that history of childhood victimization is important to put suicide attempt in a psychodynamic context which can help them in their work with patients’ psychotherapeutic crisis intervention following suicide attempt.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

2021 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-282
Author(s):  
Sandra Weber ◽  
William H. Gottdiener ◽  
Cordelia Chou

The authors compared the defense mechanisms used by a community sample of people with and without self-reported psychopathic traits. Defense mechanisms were assessed using the Defense Style Questionnaire-60 and psychopathy was assessed using the Levinson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale in a sample of 225 adults recruited on the Internet. Results found that people with self-reported psychopathy traits used significantly more immature and neurotic defense mechanisms than people without a psychopathic personality profile. All participants reported equal use of mature defenses.


Author(s):  
Michela Bonafede ◽  
Antonella Granieri ◽  
Alessandra Binazzi ◽  
Carolina Mensi ◽  
Federica Grosso ◽  
...  

Background: Patients of malignant mesothelioma (MM) and their caregivers face significant physical and psychological challenges. The purpose of the present study is to examine the emotional impact after the diagnosis of MM in a group of patients and familial caregivers in a National Priority Contaminated Site (NPCS). Methods: A sample of 108 patients and 94 caregivers received a sociodemographic/clinical questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory II, the Davidson Trauma Scale, the Coping Orientation to the Problems Experienced—New Italian Version, and the Defense style questionnaire. The risk of depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in relation to the strategies of coping and defense mechanisms was estimated in patients and caregivers separately by logistic regression models. Results: For patients, a high risk of depression was associated with high usage of Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) Isolation (OR: 53.33; 95% CI: 3.22–882.30; p = 0.01) and DSQ Somatization (OR: 16.97; 95% CI: 1.04–275.90; p = 0.05). Other significant risks emerged for some coping strategies and some defenses regarding both depression and trauma in patients and caregivers. Conclusions: This research suggests that for both patients and caregivers unconscious adaptive processes have a central role in dealing with overwhelming feelings related to the disease.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Raketic ◽  
M. Kovacevic ◽  
T. Djuric

Very few researches concerning women addictions are done up to day. This paper tries to define basic similarities and differences in defense mechanisms used by women alcohol and opiate addicts.Method:Sample of alcohol and opiate female addicts (30 patients in each group) plus control group (30 women) with no psychiatric diagnosis were questioned with Defense Style Questionnaire - DSQ 40 (Andrews, Singh, Bond, 1993).Results:There were found no statistically relevant differences between two experimental and one control group concerning mature defense mechanism use. Significant differences were found in neurotic and immature defense mechanism use: alcohol addicts use prevalently neurotic mechanisms and immature mechanisms prevail among opiate addicts.Conclusions:In our research mostly used neurotic defense mechanisms by alcohol addicts were: pseudoaltruism, idealization, and undoing. The mostly used immature defense mechanisms among opiate addicts were: phantasy, isolation, devaluation, denial and splitting.


Author(s):  
Αντώνιος Καλαματιανός ◽  
Λίσσυ Κανελλοπούλου

The interest with regard to the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has increased in the past few years, because the number of people with the aforementioned diagnosis who use mental health services has risen. The study aimed at examining the defense mechanisms in people with BPD diagnosis in relation to the attachment type they adopt. Thesample consisted of 36 adult subjects diagnosed with BPD who attended psychiatric outpatient departments and 36 people who attended the ophthalmologic outpatient care at a general hospital. The adult attachment questionnaire CA-MIR and the Defense Style Questionnaire-40 were administered to the participants. In general, results are in accordance with the theoretical background, because it was demonstrated that diagnosed subjects scored higher in the insecure attachment types, that is, the ambivalent, the detached and the non-resolved, whereas the non-diagnosed scored higher in the autonomous attachment. Moreover, diagnosed subjects used more than the non-diagnosed participants the neurotic and the immature defenses,but they did not differ with respect to mature defenses. Finally, correlations between attachment and defenses were found with the exception of the mature that correlated with no attachment model. These findings may contribute to the identification of factors that participate in BPD and in the configuration of more efficient therapeutic interventions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S599-S599
Author(s):  
S. Di Marco ◽  
I. Coppola ◽  
C. Delicato ◽  
E. Gattoni ◽  
A. Venesia ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe effects of psychotropic drugs and alcohol acute intoxication are important risk factors for attempted suicide among individuals with and without substance use disorder (SUD).AimsThe first aim of this study is describing the socio-demographic features and clinical history of subjects who were acutely intoxicated when attempting suicide. The second aim is to compare their features with those of subjects without acute alcohol and substances intoxication at suicide attempt time.MethodsDeterminants of ER psychiatric consultations were studied prospectively during the period 2008–2014 at the “Maggiore della Carità” Hospital in Novara, Italy. For each patient, a data sheet was filled in by experienced psychiatrists, in order to gather demographic features, psychiatric history and present clinical issues like blood and urine dosage of amphetamine and methamphetamine, cannabinoid, cocaine and alcohol. Comparison of qualitative data was performed by means of the Chi2 test. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05.ResultsWe collected a sample of 495 suicide attempters who referred to our ER. Statistical analysis of demographic and clinical data is still ongoing.ConclusionsPreliminary results point out that acute alcohol and drugs intoxication at suicide attempt time is much more frequent in subjects without a SUD. Implications will be discussed.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodoros Giovazolias ◽  
Evangelia Karagiannopoulou ◽  
Effrosyni Mitsopoulou

Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) is a self-report instrument designed to measure defense mechanisms. Although commonly used, the DSQ-40 has not been validated in early adolescent populations. The present study sought to determine the factor validity of the DSQ-40 in a sample of Greek primary school students (N = 265). Further, it aimed to investigate the relationship between defense mechanisms and perceived parental acceptance/rejection, the participation in bullying (either as bully or victim) as well as self-reported well being. Participants completed the Greek version of DSQ-40, adapted for use by this particular age group as well as measures in order to examine its convergent and discriminant validity. The findings support a four-factor solution as the most adequate for our data. Further, it was found that defense mechanisms are related to perceived parental acceptance and rejection. Finally, the results showed that the DSQ-40 can effectively discriminate participants with high/low bullying/victimization and perceived well-being. Our results indicate that the DSQ-40 is appropriate for use in late childhood. Implications for clinical practice and future studies that would confirm the appropriateness of the scale’s use in younger populations are also discussed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana M. Lizardi ◽  
Ronald G. Thompson ◽  
Katherine M. Keyes ◽  
Deborah S. Hasin

Parental divorce during childhood is associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts for male but not female offspring. This study examines whether parental remarriage has a differential effect on suicide risk for male and female adult offspring. Using the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), the sample consists of respondents who experienced parental divorce ( N = 6,436). Multivariable regressions were estimated. Females who lived with a stepparent were significantly more likely to report a lifetime suicide attempt compared with females who had not. Clinicians should note that female depressed patients who have a history of childhood parental divorce and remarriage may be at more risk for suicide attempt than previously recognized.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Letícia Kipper ◽  
Carolina Blaya ◽  
Cláudia Wachleski ◽  
Marina Dornelles ◽  
Giovanni Abrahão Salum ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundAs panic disorder (PD) has a chronic course, it is important to identify predictors that might be related to non-remission. The aim of this study is to verify whether history of trauma and defense style are predictors to pharmacological treatment response in PD patients.MethodThe sample was composed by 47 PD patients according to DSM-IV who were treated with sertraline for 16 weeks. Evaluations were assessed by the C.G.I. (Clinical Global Impression), the Hamilton-Anxiety Scale, the Hamilton-Depression Scale, the Panic Inventory and the DSQ-40 (Defense Style Questionnaire) at baseline and after treatment.ResultsFull remission was observed in 61.7% of the sample. The predictors significantly associated with non-remission were: severity of PD (p = 0.012), age of onset (p = 0.02) and immature defenses (p = 0.032). In addition, the history of trauma was associated with early onset of PD (p = 0.043).ConclusionPanic patients had as predictors of worse response to pharmacological treatment the early onset and the severity of PD symptoms as well as the use of immature defenses at baseline. This finding corroborates the relevance of the evaluation of factors that might affect the response so as to enable the development of appropriate treatment for each patient.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ahmet Bedel

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between interpersonal problem solving and immature defense mechanisms in addition to whether interpersonal problem solving are predictors of immature defense mechanisms. The participants of the study consists of 428 high schools students (184 of the students were females). Interpersonal Problem Solving Inventory and Defense Style Questionnaire were applied. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that all variables of interpersonal problem solving skills together accounted for 32% of the variance in defense mechanisms. Specifically, significant predictors of immature defense mechanisms levels were lack of self-confidence, negative approach to the problems, constructive problem solving respectively. Generally, the levels of adolescents resort to immature defense mechanisms, lack of self-confidence and negative approach to the problem of the increase, a decrease in constructive problem-solving skills are seen to be effective. The results of the study was discussd within the results of the previous studies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S220-S220 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Patterson ◽  
L. Mackenzie ◽  
A. Zwicker ◽  
V. Drobinin ◽  
J. Cumby ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe association between parental severe mental illness (SMI) and depression in offspring may be due to genetic liability or adverse environments. We investigated the effect of parental SMI, SES, and adversity on depression in a sample of youth enriched for familial risk of mental illness.MethodWe assessed 217 youth (mean age 11.95, SD 4.14, range 6–24), including 167 (77%) offspring of parents with SMI. We measured exposure to childhood maltreatment and bullying with the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ) and Childhood Experiences of Care and Abuse (CECA) interview.ResultsIn total, 13.36% participants reported significant bullying and 40.76% had a history of childhood maltreatment. Rates of bullying and maltreatment were similar in offspring of parents with and without SMI. Maltreatment likelihood increased with decreasing socioeconomic status. Exposure to bullying (OR = 3.11, 95%CI 1.08–8.88, P = 0.03) predicted depression in offspring more strongly than family history of SMI in parents.ConclusionsAdversity, such as maltreatment and bullying, has a stronger impact on the risk of developing depression than family history of mental illness in parents. These adverse experiences are associated with socioeconomic status rather than parental mental illness.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


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