Alexithymia, resilience, somatic sensations and their relationships with suicide ideation in drug naïve patients with first-episode major depression: An exploratory study in the "real world" everyday clinical practice

Alexithymia, resilience, somatic sensations and their<br> relationships with suicide ideation in drug naïve patients<br> with first-episode major depression: An exploratory study<br> in the “real world” everyday clinical practice Aim: The present study is aimed at revaluating alexithymia, somatic sensations, resilience<br> and their relationships with suicide ideation in drug naïve adult outpatients suffering<br> from first episode major depression (MD).<br> Methods: Data of 103 adult outpatients (49 men, 56 women) with a diagnostic and<br> statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnosis<br> of MD were analysed. Alexithymia was measured using the 20-item Toronto<br> Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and resilience with the 25 items Connor-Davidson Resilience<br> Scale (CD-RISC) whereas depression was evaluated using the 17-item Hamilton<br> Depression Rating Scale, somatic sensations with the Body Sensations Questionnaire<br> and suicide ideation with Scale of Suicide Ideation (SSI). Results: Gender comparisons between all demographic and clinical variables showed<br> no significant differences in all variables. Subjects who were found positive for<br> alexithymia showed higher scores on all clinical variables controlling for age, gender<br> and duration of the current episode. In a linear regression model, lower scores on<br> CD-RISC and Difficulty in Identifying Feelings dimension of TAS-20 were significantly<br> predictive of higher scores on SSI.<br> Conclusions: Alexithymia and low resilience were significant predictors of increased<br> suicide ideation in a first MD episode. However, study limitations must be considered<br> and future research needs are being discussed.