Depression, PTSD and alexithymia in victims of intimate partner violence: a case-control study

Abstract Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) regards millions of women worldwide and can lead to serious psychopathological consequences. Objective We aimed to evaluate differences between a group of abused women and controls, and potential predictors of depression and PTSD in the IPV group. Methods We recruited 57 women who experienced IPV and 57 age-matched controls from the general population. After collecting socio-demographic characteristics, we administered the following scales: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Revised-Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2). Results Our results showed differences between women who experienced IPV and controls in the socio-economic status, employment and educational levels, childhood abuse and early terminations of pregnancy. Notably, the rates of depression, PTSD, and alexithymia were significantly different between the two groups. Linear regression models revealed that sexual coercion was an independent positive predictor of depressive symptoms, while alexithymia played a role in the development of PTSD in the group of abused women. Discussion Given the prevalence of depression and PTSD in victims of IPV, it is important to always investigate for IPV in women seeking for help in mental health services. Alexithymia in victims of IPV deserves to be further investigated by researchers.

Do patients prefer optimistic or cautious psychiatrists? An experimental study with new and long-term patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients seeking treatment may be assumed to prefer a psychiatrist who suggests a new treatment with confidence and optimism. Yet, this might not apply uniformly to all patients. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that new patients prefer psychiatrists who present treatments optimistically, whilst patients with longer-term experience of mental health care may rather prefer more cautious psychiatrists. METHODS: In an experimental study, we produced video-clips of four psychiatrists, each suggesting a pharmacological and a psychological treatment once with optimism and once with caution. 100 'new' patients with less than 3 months experience of mental health care and 100 'long-term' patients with more than one year of experience were shown a random selection of one video-clip from each psychiatrist, always including an optimistic and a cautious suggestion of each treatment. Patients rated their preferences for psychiatrists on Likert type scales. Differences in subgroups with different age (18-40 vs. 41-65 years), gender, school leaving age (≤16 vs. >16 years), and diagnosis (ICD 10 F2 vs. others) were explored. RESULTS: New patients preferred more optimistic treatment suggestions, whilst there was no preference among long-term patients. The interaction effect between preference for treatment presentations and experience of patients was significant (interaction p-value = 0.003). Findings in subgroups were similar. CONCLUSION: In line with the hypothesis, psychiatrists should suggest treatments with optimism to patients with little experience of mental health care. However, this rule does not apply to longer-term patients, who may have experienced treatment failures in the past.

Reciprocity in therapeutic relationships: A conceptual review.

Reciprocity has generally been understood as a process of giving and taking, within an exchange of emotions or services, and has long been recognized as a central part of human life. However, an understanding of reciprocity in professional helping relationships has seldom received attention, despite movements in mental health care towards more collaborative approaches between service users and professionals. In this review, a systematic search of the published papers was conducted in order to explore how reciprocity is conceptualized and understood as part of the dyadic therapeutic relationship between professionals and service users. Eleven papers met our inclusion criteria and a narrative synthesis was used to synthesize the key concepts of reciprocity. The concepts of: 'dynamic equilibrium', 'shared affect', 'asymmetric alliance', and 'recognition as a fellow human being' were recurrent in understandings of reciprocity in professional contexts. These conceptualizations of reciprocity were also linked to specific behavioural and psychological processes. The findings suggest that reciprocity may be conceptualized and incorporated as a component of mental health care, with recurrent and observable processes which may be harnessed to promote positive outcomes for service users. To this end, we make recommendations for further research to progress and develop reciprocal processes in mental health care.