Alexithymia, resilience, somatic sensations and their relationships with suicide ideation in drug naïve patients with first-episode major depression: An exploratory study in the "real world" everyday clinical practice

Domenico De Berardis*, Michele Fornaro, Alessandro Valchera, Gabriella Rapini, Serena Di Natale, Ida De Lauretis, Nicola Serroni, Laura Orsolini, Carmine Tomasetti, Massimiliano Bustini, Alessandro Carano, Federica Vellante, Giampaolo Perna, Laura Core, Marco Alessandrini, Silvia Fraticelli, Giovanni Martinotti, Massimo Di Giannantonio

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Aim: The present study is aimed at revaluating alexithymia, somatic sensations, resilience and their relationships with suicide ideation in drug naïve adult outpatients suffering from first episode major depression (MD). Methods: Data of 103 adult outpatients (49 men, 56 women) with a diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnosis of MD were analysed. Alexithymia was measured using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and resilience with the 25 items Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) whereas depression was evaluated using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, somatic sensations with the Body Sensations Questionnaire and suicide ideation with Scale of Suicide Ideation (SSI). Results: Gender comparisons between all demographic and clinical variables showed no significant differences in all variables. Subjects who were found positive for alexithymia showed higher scores on all clinical variables controlling for age, gender and duration of the current episode. In a linear regression model, lower scores on CD-RISC and Difficulty in Identifying Feelings dimension of TAS-20 were significantly predictive of higher scores on SSI. Conclusions: Alexithymia and low resilience were significant predictors of increased suicide ideation in a first MD episode. However, study limitations must be considered and future research needs are being discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)336-342
Number of pages7
JournalEarly Intervention in Psychiatry
Volume14
Issue number3
Early online date11 Aug 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2020

Keywords

  • alexithymia
  • emotions
  • major depression
  • resilience
  • suicide ideation
  • C-REACTIVE PROTEIN
  • SERUM-LIPID LEVELS
  • AFFECTIVE AGNOSIA EXPANSION
  • CHRONIC PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS
  • ADULT OUTPATIENTS
  • CROSS-VALIDATION
  • SCALE
  • RISK
  • DISORDERS
  • CONSTRUCT

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