Joaquín García-Alandete

Meaning in Life Buffers the Association Between Risk Factors for Suicide and Hopelessness in Participants With Mental Disorders.

OBJECTIVE Hopelessness is a proximal risk factor of suicide. Meaning in life has been found to be a protective factor against suicidal ideation; however, the majority of studies that have explored the role of meaning in life in the context of suicidality have been conducted in nonclinical populations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether meaning in life can moderate and buffer the association between suicide risk factors and hopelessness in a clinical sample with a heightened risk of suicide. METHOD A total of 224 participants diagnosed with mental disorders completed self-report measures of suicide risk factors, hopelessness, and meaning in life. RESULTS The main result from this study was that meaning in life moderated the association between suicide risk factors and hopelessness. CONCLUSION Meaning in life is an important variable in the prevention and treatment of people at risk of suicide.

Meaning in life and non-suicidal self-injury: A follow-up study with participants with Borderline Personality Disorder

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is considered one of the defining features of people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Longitudinal studies are needed to identify factors predicting future NSSI in BPD participants. Several studies have shown that low meaning in life is associated with mental health problems, addiction problems, depression, hopelessness, and suicide. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether meaning in life predicts the frequency of NSSI behaviors during the one-year follow-up. The sample was composed up of 80 participants with a BPD diagnosis. We assessed the frequency of NSSI behaviors over a 12-month follow-up period. The results suggest that the participants who had low meaning in life had more frequency of NSSI, depression, and hopelessness at baseline, and more frequency of NSSI during the follow-up, than participants with high meaning in life. The predictor variables: Frequency of NSSI at base line, depression, hopelessness, and meaning in life, significantly predicted the frequency of NSSI during the one-year follow-up. Therefore, meaning in life was the only predictor of NSSI during the follow-up period.

Meaning in Life in People with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Low feelings of meaning in life are associated with depression, hopelessness and suicide, substance abuse and emotional dysregulation. The aim of this study is to offer results about the importance of the construct meaning in life in the psychopathology of BPD. In study 1, the sample was made up of 223 participants, 141 participants with BPD and 82 participants with another mental disorder but without BPD. In study 2, the sample was made up of 80 participants with BPD. Study 1 indicated that the participants with BPD had a lower feeling of meaning in life than the participants with mental disorders but without a BPD. Study 2 indicated that meaning in life was highly negatively correlated with the symptoms of BPD. The model composed of emotional dysregulation, and meaning in life was significantly associated with BPD psychopathology. The present study supports the association between meaning in life with the psychopathology of BPD. Copyright

Comparison of clinical and demographic characteristics among borderline personality disorder patients with and without suicidal attempts and non-suicidal self-injury behaviors.

Research has shown that both suicidal and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) behaviors are co-morbid phenomena that are present in BPD patients, considered phenomenologically distinct, and associated with different methods, motives, frequency, and severity of psychopathology. This study is aimed at extending previous research by examining differences in demographical, clinical and psychological characteristics of BPD patients with or without a history of Suicide Attempts (SAs) and/or NSSI behaviors. Our sample included 89 outpatients with a BPD diagnosis assessed through clinical, structured interviews, and self-reports. The major findings showed that patients with a history of suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury were characterized by major number of lifetime suicide attempts and more severe feelings of hopelessness than patients with NSSI. Additionally, more violent thoughts towards others were observed in patients with NSSI. These results support a relatively more severe profile inherent in patients with SA and NSSI and allow us to differentiate NSSI from suicide attempts, highlighting the importance of evaluating and treating hopelessness and exploring the tendency to have violent thoughts towards others in this clinical population.

Psychopathological Differences Between Suicide Ideators and Suicide Attempters in Patients with Mental Disorders

BACKGROUND Although suicide is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, there is a need for studies to identify variables that can differentiate patients with suicide ideation at risk of transitioning to an attempt. METHOD In this study, we assessed suicide ideation and attempts, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), hopelessness, borderline symptoms and meaning in life in a sample of 348 patients with different diagnoses of mental disorders. We divided the sample into four subgroups: patients without suicide ideation or suicide attempts; patients with current suicide ideation; patients with lifetime suicide attempts and patients with a suicide attempt in the previous year. RESULTS The group with suicide attempts in the previous year showed higher levels of hopelessness, borderline symptoms and NSSI, and lower levels of meaning in life than the other groups. LIMITATIONS Groups were composed of unequal numbers of patients, and in some of them, the sample size was small. The sample was composed mainly of women with eating disorders. The study design was retrospective, and so the results must be considered in terms of correlates. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that hopelessness, borderline symptoms-including NSSI-and meaning in life play a key role in suicide attempts. Thus, psychotherapeutic interventions should focus on managing NSSI, searching for meaning and managing emptiness, loss of control and feelings such as self-contempt in patients with suicide ideation. Copyright

Análisis factorial de una versión española del Purpose-In-Life Test, en función del género y edad

Escopo . Foram analisadas as carateristicas psicometricas da versao espanhola do Purpose-In-Life Test- 10 items para a medida do sentido da vida, assim como diferencias em funcao de genero e idade, em um grupo de 180 universitarios espanhois (138 mulheres, 42 homens), com idades entre 18 e 55 anos (M= 22.91, DT= 6.71). Metodologia . Os analises incluiram: a) a estimacao do ajuste de dados – modelo da escada, mediante analise fatorial confirmatorio; b) calculo de estatisticos descritivos e a proba de bondade de ajuste dos itens, do total da escada e dos seus fatores; c) a estimacao da consistencia interna da escada e os fatores; d) as correlacoes entre itens, escada e fatores; e e) comparacoes em funcao do genero e a idade. Resultados . A escada mostrou um ajuste adequado e uma consistencia interna aceitavel e alta. As mulheres pontuaram significativamente mais alto no fator Metas e propostos vitais, e o grupo de mediana idade (30-55 anos) alcancou rangos na media significativamente mais altos na pontuacao total e em varios itens da escada que o grupo de jovens (18-29 anos). Discussao. A escada Purpose-In-Life Test 10 items e psicometricamente fiavel e as diferencias em sentido da vida associadas a idade sugerem hipoteses explicativas de natureza cognitivo-motivacionais e evolutivas de natureza psicossocial.

Purpose-in-Life Test: Comparison of the Main Models in Patients with Mental Disorders

The aim of this study was to compare the main proposed models for the Purpose-In-Life Test, a scale for assessing meaning in life, in 229 Spanish patients with mental disorders (195 females and 34 males, aged 13-68, M = 34.43, SD = 12.19). Confirmatory factor-analytic procedures showed that the original model of the Purpose-In-Life Test, a 20-item unidimensional scale, obtained a better fit than the other analyzed models, SBχ2(df) = 326.27(170), SBχ2/df = 1.92, TLI = .93, CFI = .94, IFI = .94, RMSEA = .063 (90% CI [.053, .074]), CAIC = -767.46, as well as a high internal consistency, (α = .90). The main conclusion is that the original version of the Purpose-In-Life shows a robust construct validity in a clinical population. However, authors recommend an in-depth psychometric analysis of the Purpose-In-Life Test among clinical population. Likewise, the importance of assessing meaning in life in order to enhance psychotherapeutic treatment is noted.

Psychometric properties of the Purpose-In-Life Test and age-related differences among women diagnosed with eating disorders

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Purpose-In-Life Test (PIL), as well as the age-related differences in meaning in life in women diagnosed with eating disorders. Participants were 250 Spanish women diagnosed with eating disorders who ranged from 12 to 60 years old. Confirmatory Factor Analysis, descriptive analyses, estimation of the internal consistency of the PIL, correlations between the PIL and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Overweight Preoccupation Scale (OPS), and Body Investment Scale (BIS), and age differences were calculated. A 19-item model that showed a good fit and internal consistency, a negative correlation between the PIL and both the BHS and OPS, and a positive correlation with the BIS, as well as significant differences between the adolescents and the mature adults, were found. It would be advisable to increase the inclusion of meaning in life in psychotherapeutic interventions with women diagnosed with eating disorders.

PERSON, CHARACTER AND VALUES ACCORDING TO RUDOLF ALLERS IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHARACTER

The Viennese psychiatrist Rudolf Allers has been virtually relegated to oblivion, despite being quite relevant in the past. He developed a founding program in psychiatry, that of psychopathology (specifically neurosis), and characterology in Catholic anthropology, specifically Thomist. The article briefly discusses Allers’s main ideas on the distinction between person and character, and the relationship between character and values. The objective is to update his potential relevance for a critique of contemporary psychology, independent of any metaphysical reference.

The Structural Validity and Internal Consistency of a Spanish Version of the Purpose in Life Test

The objective of this work is to examine the factorial structure and the internal consistency of a Spanish version of the Purpose in Life Test, to propose an accurate psychometric scale. Results of a previous study, in which exploratory factor analysis resulted in a scale with ten items and two correlated factors, are developed. In the current study a confirmatory factor analysis is carried out and internal consistency was estimated among 916 Spanish undergraduates (264 males, 652 females, aged 18–42, M = 22.33, SD = 4.26). The results supported the proposed model, which showed a good fit and a high internal consistency.