ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Psichiatrica 2017 September;58(3):113-7

DOI: 10.23736/S0391-1772.17.01932-X

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

A study of emotional regulation process among patients with current suicide attempt

Nagashree VASUDEVA, Hemendra SINGH ✉

Department of Psychiatry, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College and Hospitals, Bangalore, India

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major concern across the globe. There are various reasons for suicide attempts all of which ultimately lead to emotional distress. The way individuals appraise situations and recent life events or suppress emotions can alter the levels of stress, which in turn, can affect suicidality. Hence, this study aims to find the relation between emotional regulation processes, i.e. reappraisal and suppression and recent life events with suicide attempts.
METHODS: Fifty-six patients, aged between 18-60 years with a current suicide attempt were systematically assessed by using the Life Events Scale (LES), the Recent Life Change Questionnaire (RLCQ), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) to assess life stressors and emotional regulation processes.
RESULTS: Median age of the patients was 25 years. Median scores of LES and RLCQ was higher in males as compared to females. Females had a higher mean suppression score (4.46±1.31) and lower mean reappraisal score (3.46±1.36) as compared to males who had scores of 4.38±1.38 and 3.84±1.47 respectively. Patients with previous history of suicide attempts had a higher mean suppression score (4.89±0.95) and a lower reappraisal score (2.53±0.74) as compared to those first-time attempters, who had scores of 4.28±1.41 and 3.9±1.39, respectively. Significant negative correlation was also found between cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression (r=-0.477, P=0.00).
CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for developing specific preventive interventions like emotionally focused cognitive therapies to enhance positive reappraisal in patients with suicidal risk which is a potential source of resilience.

KEY WORDS: Suicide - Life change events - Psychological stress - Emotional adjustment