Demoralization and its relationship with depression and hopelessness in suicidal patients attending an emergency department

Costanza, Alessandra; Baertschi, Marc; Richard Lepouriel, Hélène; Weber, Kerstin Maud; Berardelli, Isabella; Pompili, Maurizio; Canuto, Alessandra

doi:10.3390/ijerph17072232

Scientific article

English

Demoralization and its relationship with depression and hopelessness in suicidal patients attending an emergency department

Contributors

Costanza, Alessandra

; Baertschi, Marc; Richard Lepouriel, Hélène

; Weber, Kerstin Maud; Berardelli, Isabella; Pompili, Maurizio; Canuto, Alessandra

Published in

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 7, 2232

Publication date

2020

Abstract

Emergency departments (EDs) play an increasingly crucial role in the management of patients with suicidal behavior (SB). Demoralization has been associated with SB in various populations and conditions, but little is known about the effect of this construct in SB patients who attend an ED. Therefore, a more inclusive SB assessment which considers the demoralization construct could be useful in clinical practice. The main aim of this study was to assess the presence and severity of demoralization in patients visiting EDs for SB. Secondly, the maintenance of the relationship between demoralization and SB after controlling for depression and the proportion of variance which accounted for hopelessness was investigated. A cross-sectional study of patients (N = 199) visiting an ED for SB was performed, which examined the role of demoralization, hopelessness, and depression on suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SAs). Demoralization was strongly and positively correlated with SI. Demoralization was related to major depressive episodes, but it was confirmed to be a different and, probably, more sensitive construct for SB, validating its specificity in relation to depression. Hopelessness accounted for a small portion of the variance in SI, compared to demoralization. Formal support for the association of demoralization with SI was provided. Demoralization can improve SB assessment in EDs, particularly among patients whose suicide risk can be unnoticed. Furthermore, demoralization represents a clinically useful concept to increase comprehension of the suffering of the suicidal patient and a possible target for psychotherapeutic interventions.

Keywords

Demoralization
Emergency department
Risk factor
Suicidal behavior
Suicidal ideation
Suicide
Suicide attempt

UNIGE affiliation entities

Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de psychiatrie

UNIGE research groups

Médecine psychosomatique, neurosciences cliniques et mindfulness (690)

Citation (ISO format)

COSTANZA, Alessandra et al. Demoralization and its relationship with depression and hopelessness in suicidal patients attending an emergency department. In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020, vol. 17, n° 7, p. 2232. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17072232

Article (Published version)

CC BY

Identifiers

PID : unige:154804
DOI : 10.3390/ijerph17072232
PMID : 32225017

Additional URL for this publication

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7177663/

Journal ISSN

1661-7827

234views

273downloads

Creation

30/10/2020 18:59:00

First validation

30/10/2020 18:59:00

Update

16/03/2023 01:18:55

Status update

16/03/2023 01:18:54

Last indexation

31/10/2024 23:07:12

Demoralization and its relationship with depression and hopelessness in suicidal patients attending an emergency department

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

Keywords

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

Main files (1)

Identifiers

Additional URL for this publication

Journal ISSN

Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation