Domenico De Berardis1, Nicola Serroni2, Daniela Campanella2, Gabriella Rapini2, Luigi Olivieri2, Barbara Feliziani2, Alessandro Carano3, Alessandro Valchera4, Felice Iasevoli5, Carmine Tomasetti5, Monica Mazza6, Michele Fornaro7, Giampaolo Perna8, Marco Di Nicola9, Giovanni Martinotti4, Massimo Di Giannantonio3. 1. NHS, Department of Mental Health, Psychiatric Service of Diagnosis and Treatment, Hospital "G. Mazzini", ASL 4, Teramo, Italy; Department of Neurosciences and Imaging, Chair of Psychiatry, University "G. D'Annunzio" of Chieti, Chieti Scalo, Italy. Electronic address: dodebera@aliceposta.it. 2. NHS, Department of Mental Health, Psychiatric Service of Diagnosis and Treatment, Hospital "G. Mazzini", ASL 4, Teramo, Italy. 3. Department of Neurosciences and Imaging, Chair of Psychiatry, University "G. D'Annunzio" of Chieti, Chieti Scalo, Italy. 4. Hermanas Hospitalarias, FoRiPsi, Villa S. Giuseppe Hospital, Ascoli Piceno, Italy. 5. Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Psychopharmacotherapeutics, Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, University School of Medicine "Federico II", Naples, Italy. 6. Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy. 7. Department of Clinical and Molecular Biomedicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. 8. Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Hermanas Hospitalarias, FoRiPsi, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Villa San Benedetto Menni, Albese con Cassano, Como, Italy; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Leonard Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, FL, USA. 9. Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
Abstract
AIMS: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is psychiatric disorder with a significant suicide risk, and the presence of alexithymia may increase this risk. As several studies attribute an important role, in OCD, to responsibility, the aims of this study were to evaluate possible clinical differences between patients positive or not for alexithymia concerning disorder severity, responsibility attitudes and suicide ideation and investigate which variables were associated with increased suicide ideation. METHODS: 104 adult outpatients with OCD were recruited. Alexithymia was measured with Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), attitude about responsibility was tested with Responsibility Attitude Scale (RAS), suicide ideation was assessed with Scale of Suicide Ideation (SSI) and depressive symptoms were evaluated with Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Score of item #11 on the Y-BOCS was considered as a measure of insight. RESULTS: Patients positive for alexithymia showed higher responsibility attitudes and more severe suicide ideation. In a blockwise regression model, the presence of lower insight, higher RAS scores and difficulty in identifying feelings dimension of TAS-20 were associated with higher SSI scores. CONCLUSIONS: OCD patients with alexithymia may show higher disorder severity, lower insight and inflated responsibility, all related to suicide ideation, independently from depressive symptoms. Implications were discussed and study limitations considered and reported.
AIMS: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is psychiatric disorder with a significant suicide risk, and the presence of alexithymia may increase this risk. As several studies attribute an important role, in OCD, to responsibility, the aims of this study were to evaluate possible clinical differences between patients positive or not for alexithymia concerning disorder severity, responsibility attitudes and suicide ideation and investigate which variables were associated with increased suicide ideation. METHODS: 104 adult outpatients with OCD were recruited. Alexithymia was measured with Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), attitude about responsibility was tested with Responsibility Attitude Scale (RAS), suicide ideation was assessed with Scale of Suicide Ideation (SSI) and depressive symptoms were evaluated with Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Score of item #11 on the Y-BOCS was considered as a measure of insight. RESULTS:Patients positive for alexithymia showed higher responsibility attitudes and more severe suicide ideation. In a blockwise regression model, the presence of lower insight, higher RAS scores and difficulty in identifying feelings dimension of TAS-20 were associated with higher SSI scores. CONCLUSIONS:OCDpatients with alexithymia may show higher disorder severity, lower insight and inflated responsibility, all related to suicide ideation, independently from depressive symptoms. Implications were discussed and study limitations considered and reported.
Authors: Vahid Khosravani; Seyed Mehdi Samimi Ardestani; Farangis Sharifi Bastan; Dean McKay; Gordon J G Asmundson Journal: Clin Psychol Psychother Date: 2021-05-05