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

• Published in: Early intervention in psychiatry Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 336 - 342
• Main Authors: De Berardis, Domenico, Fornaro, Michele, Valchera, Alessandro, Rapini, Gabriella, Di Natale, Serena, De Lauretis, Ida, Serroni, Nicola, Orsolini, Laura, Tomasetti, Carmine, Bustini, Massimiliano, Carano, Alessandro, Vellante, Federica, Perna, Giampaolo, Core, Laura, Alessandrini, Marco, Fraticelli, Silvia, Martinotti, Giovanni, Di Giannantonio, Massimo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd 01.06.2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Alexithymia; Demographic variables; Diagnostic systems; Early intervention; emotions; major depression; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Regression analysis; Regression models; Resilience; Resilience (Psychology); Statistical analysis; suicide ideation; Suicides & suicide attempts; suicide ideation; alexithymia; emotions; resilience; major depression
• ISSN: 1751-7885; 1751-7893; 1751-7893
• DOI: 10.1111/eip.12863

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.