Résultats de recherche

1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The aim of the present study is [...] to test the hypothesis that severe life events, most particularly those of a humiliating nature, can act as a provoking factor in the suicide of patients suffering from schizophrenia or schizoid-type disorder. » (p. 68)

Questions/Hypothèses :
« The second hypothesis aims to verify if a history of child abuse or negligence acts as a vulnerability factor for suicide in patients suffering from schizophrenia or from a schizoid-type disorder. » (p. 68)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
The sample « [...] included a group of 33 cases of suicide with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or related disorder and a CG [control group] of 34 living patients in the same diagnostic category but without the presence of a suicide attempt in the past. » (p. 68)

Instruments :
- Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) for Axis I mental disorders
- Life Events and Difficulties (LEDS)
- Child Experiences and Child Abuse Interview (CECA)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« Severe life events act as a provoking factor during the weeks preceding suicide in patients with schizophrenia. These events are mostly in the humiliation category involving separation. Compared with a control group of living patients with schizophrenia, those who died by suicide had a higher psychiatric vulnerability and were likely to have been involved in more aggressive behavior. […] There is a need in future research to better analyze the circumstances before, during, and after a hospitalization or placement. This should include both the quality of professional care, the attitudes of the family, and the partnership between professionals and the family. Although the CG had more negative rates of childhood experiences than the SG [suicide group], we have to keep in mind that the rates of the SG were also very high. An idea to explore in future research is a comparison of parental behavior before and after the first episode or the stage of prodromal symptoms. What may produce despair in schizophrenia with respect to parental behavior could be a change from a rather positive parental attitude during childhood followed by some form of rejection at the prodromal stage of the illness in early adulthood. We had examples of patients in the SG with no ratings of abuse during childhood who were pressed to achieve after their illness despite their incapacity to do so. » (p. 76-77)