scholarly journals Stressful life events among incarcerated women and men: Association with depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and suicidality

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly E. Moore ◽  
Shania Siebert ◽  
Garrett Brown ◽  
Julia Felton ◽  
Jennifer E. Johnson

Abstract Background Justice-involved populations report a higher than average number of pre-incarceration stressful life events. However, few studies have described stressful life events which occur during incarceration, explored gender differences in these events, or evaluated the effect of these events on well-being. Method This study draws from a sample of male and female adults incarcerated in 6 prison facilities across two states (n = 160) to identify the number and type of stressful life events they experienced during incarceration, gender differences in stressful events, and the relationship between stressful life events and markers of well-being (i.e., depression, hopelessness, loneliness, suicidality). We also examined whether perceived social support would buffer the relationship between stressful events and well-being outcomes. Results Participants on average reported experiencing 4 stressful life events during their current incarceration, the most common being relocation to another cell and being made fun of/insulted by someone in the prison. There were few gender differences in types of events experienced. Regression analyses showed that stressful life events were associated with more loneliness, as well as suicidality, but only when participants had low perceived social support. Conclusions Stressful life events, and drawing on social support networks to cope with stress, should be addressed in the context of correctional treatments to reduce suicide risk during incarceration.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rukhsana Khan ◽  
Ahmed Waqas ◽  
Zille Huma Mustehsan ◽  
Amna Saeed Khan ◽  
Siham Sikander ◽  
...  

Objective: To determine the prevalence and association of prenatal depression with socioeconomic, demographic and personal factors among pregnant women living in Kallar Syedan, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.Methods: Five hundred women in the second and third trimester of pregnancy, living in Kallar Syedan, a rural area of district Rawalpindi Pakistan, were included in the study. Depression was assessed using “Patient health questionnaire” (PHQ9) in Urdu, with a cut-off score of 10. Multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) was used to assess perceived social support. Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) were used to measure stressful life events in past 1 year. Tool to assess intimate partner violence (IPV) was based on WHO Multi Country Study on “Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women.”Results: Prevalence of prenatal depression was found to be 27%. Number of pregnancies was significantly associated with prenatal depression (p < 0.01). Women living in a joint family and those who perceived themselves as moderately satisfied or not satisfied with their life in the next 4 years were found to be depressed (p < 0.01, OR 6.9, CI 1.77–26.73). Depressive symptomatology in women who experienced more than five stressful life events in last 1 year was three times higher (p < 0.001, OR 3.2, CI 1.68–5.98) than in women with 1–2 stressful events. Women who were supported by their significant others or their family members had 0.9 times (p < 0.01, OR 0.9, CI 0.85–0.96) less chance of getting depressed. Pregnant women who were psychologically abused by their partners were 1.5 times more depressed (p < 0.05 CI 1.12–2.51). Odds of having depression was also high in women who had less mean score of MSSI (p < 0.05, OR 1.1, CI 1.01–1.09). Women who had suitable accommodation had 0.5 times less chance of having depression than others (p < 0.05, OR 0.5, CI 0.27–0.92).Conclusion: Over a quarter of the women in the study population reported prenatal depression, which were predicted predominantly by psychosocial variables.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balpreet Panesar ◽  
Tea Rosic ◽  
Myanca Rodrigues ◽  
Nitika Sanger ◽  
Natasha Baptist-Mohseni ◽  
...  

Background: Suicide is a serious public health concern for which there have been well-established protective and risk factors reported in literature. There is a lack of evidence on the indirect effects of other variables on these factors. Specifically, the association between stressful life events and suicidal behavior may be affected by perceived social support, but its role in this association is largely uninvestigated.Objectives: Thus, this paper aims to explore the role of perceived social support in the association between stressful life events and suicidal behavior. Perceived social support will be explored as a mediator and as a moderator in this association.Methods: Data were obtained from the Determinants of Suicidal Behavior Conventional and Emergent Risk (DISCOVER), a study conducted to identify risk factors of suicidal behavior. The study participants are individuals with suicide attempts admitted to hospital. Participants (n = 343) were recruited from hospital setting. Suicidal behavior was measured using two outcomes (1) the occurrence of a suicide attempt (2) level of suicide intent as measured by the Pierce Suicide Intent Scale. Perceived social support was measured using the Sarason Social Support Questionnaire.Results: Stressful life events were significantly associated with suicide attempts (OR 1.440, 95% CI 1.440, 1.682, p < 0.001) and perceived social support (B −0.785, 95% CI −1.501, −0.068, p = 0.032). There was no significant mediation effect by perceived social support in the association between stressful life events and suicide attempts (Sobel's test statistic 1.64, p = 0.100). Perceived social support did not moderate the relationship between stressful life events and suicide attempts [(OR 1.007, 95% CI 0.987, 1.027, p = 0.514] or the relationship between stressful life events and level of suicidal intent (B −0.043, 95% CI −0.132, 0.046, p = 0.343).Conclusion: Stressful life events are associated with increased risk of suicide attempts. The study also identified an inverse relationship between stressful life events and perceived social support. These associations were independent of perceived social support. This study highlights the effects of stressful life events on suicide risk is not affected by perceived social support, requiring further investigation into measures to reduce the impact of social stressors on people with risk of suicide.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingkun Ouyang ◽  
Danni Gui ◽  
Xiao Cai ◽  
Yulong Yin ◽  
Xiaoling Mao ◽  
...  

Stressful life events and subjective well-being are negatively related, but there is little research in the current literature exploring the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association, especially for female adolescents in vocational schools who are subjected to undesirable life events. In the present study, we examined the mediating role of depression in the association between stressful life events and female adolescents’ subjective well-being, as well as the moderating role of perceived social support in the direct and indirect relations involved. The participants were 1,096 vocational school female adolescents, who completed the questionnaires regarding stressful life events, subjective well-being, depression, and perceived social support. The results showed that depression partially mediated the relation between stressful life events and subjective well-being. Importantly, perceived social support moderated the direct link between stressful life events and subjective well-being, and the indirect link between stressful life events and depression, but not the indirect link between depression and subjective well-being. Especially, female adolescents high in perceived social support displayed higher levels of subjective well-being and lower levels of depression in facing with stressful life events than those low in perceived social support. These findings highlight the mechanisms underlying the relationship between stressful life events and subjective well-being in vocational school female adolescents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-185
Author(s):  
S. Cotter ◽  
C. Healy ◽  
D. Ni Cathain ◽  
P. Williams ◽  
M. Clarke ◽  
...  

ObjectivesMigrant youths endure many challenges. Such challenges can be stressful and lead to psychological difficulties. We investigated the relationship between migration, psychopathology and stressful events in children and adolescents. We hypothesised that migrant youths would show higher levels of psychopathology and more stressful life events than non-migrant youths.MethodUsing the Child cohort (Cohort ‘98) of the ‘Growing up in Ireland’ study we investigated psychopathology, as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) at age 9 and 13 and stressful life events in migrant and non-migrant youths.ResultsThere was no significant difference between the proportion of migrant and non-migrant youths reporting psychopathology in childhood (p>0.05) or adolescence (p>0.05). Analysis of the SDQ subscales revealed that a significantly greater proportion of migrant youths had hyperactivity problems in childhood (p = 0.04) but a greater proportion of non-migrant youths had emotional problems in early adolescence (p = 0.04). We found that migrant youths experienced significantly more stressful life events than their non-migrant counterparts (p<0.01), however, once ‘Moving house/country‘ was removed as a stressor, there was no difference between the groups (p>0.27).ConclusionsContrary to our hypothesis, we observed that there were few differences between migrant and non-migrant youths in the levels of psychopathology. Migrant youths experienced a greater number of stressful life events, however, this was attributable to stressors relating to moving. An increased understanding of the factors promoting resilience, as demonstrated by the migrant youths, could aid health professionals and policy makers to effectively tailor interventions for mental health promotion.


Author(s):  
Khansa Mubashir ◽  
Ruqia Safdar Bajwa ◽  
Malik Mureed Hussain

Study was designed to examine the relationship between well-being and environmental factors and their influence on cardiovascular disease. Cross sectional and co-relational research design were adopted. Data was collected over a span of 04 months from Multan Institute of Cardiology (MIC) and from the cardiology ward 1-A Nishtar Hospital Multan. A purposive sample of 200 cardiovascular patients was requested to provide information regarding stressful life events, perceived stress, depression, social support and cardiovascular diseases. Sample of 200 cardiovascular patients consisted of 100 males and 100 females. Independent sample t-test, ANOVA as well as PLS-SEM (structural equation modeling) was used to examine the hypothesis.  Results informed about the positive impact of psychological stressors on cardiovascular diseases which was partly mediated by social support, because social support effect the way CVD patients perceives the stress full events as well as decrease the threshold of psychological stressors. It was concluded that psychological stressors (Depression, Perceived stress, Stressful life events) and low social support increases the severity of cardiovascular diseases within a short duration among cardiovascular patients. Patients with mild psychological stressors and high social support sustain a milder form of CVD disease e.g. Hypertension for longer time duration without shifting to sever form of cardiovascular diseases while on the other hand contrary happen in the case of high   level of psychological stressors and lower level of social support.


1994 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia M. Adams ◽  
James C. Overholser ◽  
Anthony Spirito

This study was designed to examine the types of stressful events that are related to adolescent suicidal behaviour. Adolescent inpatients who attempted suicide and a control group of high school students were compared on various types of stressors. The stressors were categorized according to their type (for example, discrete events versus chronic strains) and source (for example, family or friends). Compared to high school controls, adolescents who attempted suicide reported elevated levels of major negative events and exit events. Both chronic strains and discrete stressors were related to an increased severity of depression and suicidal ideation. The results support the notion that increased stress is related to adolescent suicidal behaviour. Different approaches to categorizing stress may improve the understanding of the relationship between stressful life events and suicide. Also, sex differences may influence the relationship between life stress and suicidal feelings.


2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parastoo Golshiri ◽  
Mojtaba Akbari ◽  
Abbas Zarei

Background: Suicide is an important, preventable, public health problem worldwide, caused by the interaction of numerous environmental, biological and psychosocial factors. Aims: This study aimed to identify the factors associated with suicidal attempts in Isfahan, Iran, in 2015. Methods: In this case–control study, 175 cases who committed suicide and were admitted to emergency services were compared with 175 controls selected among outpatients from the same hospital without any history of suicide attempt. Demographic, psychosocial, personality traits, religiosity, coping skills, stressful life events, socioeconomic status and psychiatric distress were compared between groups. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors for suicide. Results: Marital status, education, socioeconomic status, psychological distress, perceived social support, stress coping strategies, personality, religious beliefs, stress life events and general health condition were significantly different between groups. The regression analysis revealed that perceived social support (odds ratio (OR) = 0.962, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.94–0.984), religious beliefs (OR = 0.923, 95% CI: 0.867–0.984) and stressful life event (OR = 1.524, 95% CI: 1.251–1.856) were significantly associated with suicide attempts. Conclusion: Our finding showed that religious beliefs, perceived social support and stressful life events are the main factors associated with suicide attempts. So, positive strategies such as improvements in life skills to control stressful life events, religiosity and perceived social support can be used to control suicide attempts.


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