Auto-aggressive Behavior Research Articles

Auto-aggressive behavior in dental patients

Auto-aggression can be defined as all actions that aim to inflict mental or physical harm to oneself. It can be caused by a dysfunction of the self-preservation instinct, which can manifest in life-threatening self-mutilation tendencies. Auto-aggression can also be one of the symptoms of psychiatric or emotional dysfunctions such as borderline personality disorder, psychopathy or schizophrenia. A dental appointment, being usually a source of great stress, can induce certain auto-aggressive behaviors as well as dental examination can show some lesions or abnormal changes of anatomical structures in the oral cavity which should be thoroughly examined and treated multidisciplinary according to patient’s behavior.

Социально-психологические особенности подростков, склонных к аутоагрессивному поведению

Социально-психологические особенности подростков, склонных к аутоагрессивному поведению

Autoaggressive characteristics of married couples, where husbands suffer from alcohol dependence

To study autoaggressive characteristics of spouses in families of men with alcohol dependence. One hundred and twenty-five families, where a husband suffers from alcohol dependence, have been investigated. Suicidal and non-suicidal patterns of autoaggressive behavior as well as their predictors have been studied. The control group consisted of 62 families, where husbands were not alcohol dependent. It has been found that men with alcohol dependence tend to realize anivital programs through suicidal behavior and risky-victim behavioral modes. A history of a suicidal attempt was revealed in 32% of alcohol dependent men, a suicide attempt over the last two years in 12% that was considerably higher compared to the control group. The percentage in their wives was 16% and 7.2%, respectively. The suicide attempts in wives were due to 'prosuicidal' complex of emotions with the sense of shame, guilt and hopelessness. Gender differences in the ways of realization of suicidal attempts have been found. This finding can be used in addiction treatment.

Key characteristics of women and men suffering from alcohol dependence in the context of auto-agressive behaviour

Aim. To define the clinically and practically significant differences in characteristics of women and men who suffer from alcohol dependency in terms of auto-aggressive behavior associated with alcohol dependence. The article presents the analysis of data obtained in 124 subjects divided into two groups 62 subjects each, women and men suffering from alcohol dependence.Results. The study shows that women and men suffering from alcohol dependence have certain features throughout the course of the disease in the context of the auto-aggressive behavior. Most of the subjects were characterized by a hereditary development of the alcohol dependency represented by the presence of the alcoholism in mothers among 32% of female patients versus 10% among male ones. Women, in general, had more severe alcohol dependence (84% of the female subjects had rapid progression of the disease). The duration of therapeutic remission in most of the cases was less than a year, there were no prolonged therapeutic remissions (3 to 5 years).Conclusion. Women and men have different course of the alcohol dependence, including the auto-aggressive behavioral characteristics, which in turn requires special attention of the medical services that provide narcological and anti-suicidal aid to both female and male patients. Development of gender-specific therapeutic approaches to the treatment of alcohol dependency is also required.

Key characteristics of women and men suffering from alcohol dependence in the context of auto-agressive behaviour

Aim. To define the clinically and practically significant differences in characteristics of women and men who suffer from alcohol dependency in terms of auto-aggressive behavior associated with alcohol dependence. The article presents the analysis of data obtained in 124 subjects divided into two groups 62 subjects each, women and men suffering from alcohol dependence.Results. The study shows that women and men suffering from alcohol dependence have certain features throughout the course of the disease in the context of the auto-aggressive behavior. Most of the subjects were characterized by a hereditary development of the alcohol dependency represented by the presence of the alcoholism in mothers among 32% of female patients versus 10% among male ones. Women, in general, had more severe alcohol dependence (84% of the female subjects had rapid progression of the disease). The duration of therapeutic remission in most of the cases was less than a year, there were no prolonged therapeutic remissions (3 to 5 years).Conclusion. Women and men have different course of the alcohol dependence, including the auto-aggressive behavioral characteristics, which in turn requires special attention of the medical services that provide narcological and anti-suicidal aid to both female and male patients. Development of gender-specific therapeutic approaches to the treatment of alcohol dependency is also required.

Étude des facteurs de risque des comportements agressifs dans les troubles du spectre autistique

BackgroundWhen coping with auto- and hetero-aggressive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders, the child psychiatrist has a double role: treating these behaviors as well as identifying at risk persons and situations. ObjectivesIn this perspective, our work aimed to study the risk factors of auto- and hetero-agressivity in behavioral self-hetero-aggressive. MethodsWe conducted a transversal study of 50 children with autism spectrum disorder (DSM-5 criteria). The diagnosis was confirmed by the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). The severity of autism was determined by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Aggressive behaviors were assessed by the Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI-01) translated and validated in Arabic. The psycho-educational profile revised (PEP-R) evaluated, through the seven domains of development, the developmental age of each child. A predetermined plug collected information on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics. To determine the risk factors associated with aggressive behaviors, we conducted a univariate followed by a multivariate analysis. ResultsOur sample consisted of 50 children with ASD in accordance to DSM-5 criteria. The sex ratio was 4.5. Patients had an average age of 6 years (SD: 2) with extremes ranging from 2 to 12 years. Mean CARS score was 37.1 (SD: 7). Twenty percent of the children had a high functioning form of autism while the rest of the sample presented mild to moderate intellectual disability. The prevalence of auto-aggressive behavior was 46% and that of hetero-aggressiveness was of 60%. The univariate analysis found the following results. A statistically significant association was found between self-harm and the following factors: a higher age (P=0.007), a later age of diagnosis (P=0.006), digestive disorders (P=0.026; OR=4.28; 95% CI=1.1–16), high pain threshold (P=0.007; OR=5.8; 95% CI=1.5–21.8), intellectual disability (P=0.004), a lower score of perception at the PEP-R (P=0.045), and a higher score on the ADI-D (P=0.001). A statistically significant association was found between hetero-aggressive behavior and the following factors: a higher age (P=0.042) and the absence of the “no” opposition (P=0.017; OR=0. 1; 95% CI=0.1–0.9). The multivariate analysis isolated three independent factors for self-harm: a higher age (P=0.011; adjusted OR=1.05; 95% CI=1.01–1.09), digestive disorders (P=0.016; adjusted OR=17.5; 95% CI=1.7–1.80), intellectual disabilities (P=0.008; adjusted OR=0.9; 95% CI=0.8–0.9); and two independent factors for hetero-aggressiveness: a higher age (P=0.039; adjusted OR=1.03; 95% CI=1–1.06) and the absence of the “no” opposition (P=0.008; adjusted OR=0.1; 95% CI=0.02–0.56). ConclusionThese data invite us to consider the aggressiveness as a multifactorial behavior and to analyze aggressive behavior in light of the complex set of interactions between an individual and his environment.

Comprehensive analysis of clinical and social factors influencing the emergence autoaggressive behavior in of military age

Comprehensive analysis of clinical and social factors influencing the emergence autoaggressive behavior in of military age

The phenomenon of attachment to parents, the duration of therapeutic remissions and autoaggressive behavior among inpatients with alcohol addiction

To determine the role of phenomenon of attachment to parents in the formation of therapeutic remission and the relationship between attachment styles and autoaggressive behavior in patients with alcohol addiction (AA). Sixty-two patients with AA and 30 controls were examined. Insecure attachment styles were most frequents in AA patients that indicated a role of attachment pathology in the development of the disease. Higher frequency of secure and preoccupied styles were noted in patients with AA with the duration of therapeutic remissions more than one year compared to those with shorter duration. No effect of duration of therapeutic remission on autoaggressive behavior was found in patients who did not receive special treatment. In AA patients, avoidant style was correlated with autoaggression in family and professional spheres, and high-anxious style was correlated with classical autoaggression in the form of antisocial behavior.

Mortality of persons deprived of liberty in the penal system

The main aim of this research is to determine the scope, dynamics, and structure of deaths of persons deprived of their liberty who resided in the penal system due to custody, security measures, serving a prison sentence or an alternative sanction, with regard to their demographic, criminological, penal, and psychological characteristics. Article 111, paragraph b of the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (1990) determines that deprivation of liberty refers to any kind of detention, imprisonment, i.e. placement in a public or private institution which the imprisoned person cannot leave, by order of judicial, administrative or other public authority. The data used included information on persons deprived of their liberty who died in the territory of the Republic of Serbia in the period from 2008 to 2012. The data was obtained from The Directorate for Execution of Criminal Sanctions of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia. In the past, researches mainly focused on violence in prisons, death penalty, prison riots, auto-aggressive behavior, i.e. certain forms of mortality such as a suicide. This paper aims to point out the characteristics of deaths which occur while persons deprived of their liberty are under the authority of judicial institutions, both before and after passing a criminal sanction.

Symptom severity and disgust-related traits in borderline personality disorder: The role of amygdala subdivisions

The majority of morphometric studies on borderline personality disorder (BPD) found that diagnosed patients have a reduced amygdala volume. We sought to extend this finding by focusing on amygdala subdivisions (centromedial, laterobasal, superficial) and their association with symptom severity and disgust-related traits. Additional disorder-/disgust-relevant regions (insula, somatosensory cortex) were also investigated. We compared structural imaging data from 25 female BPD patients and 25 healthy women via voxel-based morphometry. Scores on self-report measures for symptom severity, disgust proneness, and self-disgust were correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) of regions of interest. Relative to controls, BPD patients had more GMV in the laterobasal amygdala. The volume of this region was positively correlated with symptom severity. In contrast, GMV of the centromedial amygdala showed a negative correlation with symptom severity. The degree of reported self-injury and self-disgust correlated negatively with the volume of the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII). Our data point to a differential contribution of amygdala subdivisions to symptom severity in BPD. Future longitudinal studies should focus on these subregions and possible volume changes during the course of the disorder. The meaning of altered SII volume for dysfunctional auto-aggressive behavior needs further investigation.

Financial Opportunities and Auto-aggression Amongst Adolescents in Croatia

IntroductionComplex transitional changes in Croatia, lack of employment security and a large number of traumatized and unemployed individuals still strongly influence family functioning, the distribution of family roles as well as the capacity of parents to provide adequate emotional support to adolescents who are growing up in such families. AimsThe aim of our study was to examine how many adolescents in the general population (students of secondary schools in Zagreb, Croatia) show auto-aggressive behaviors and whether their auto-aggressive behavior is dependent upon the financial circumstances of the family in which they grow up. MethodsThe study was conducted on 701 adolescents (both male and female with ages ranging 14-19 years). To determine the family financial circumstances we used a specially designed structured questionnaire with family and demographic data. To test auto-aggression we used the validated 'Scale of auto-destructiveness” (USA). ResultsA significant social factor associated with aggressiveness is the parents financial situation (F(2,548=4,604, p=0,010), since adolescents from financially poorer families show greater aggressiveness. The results showed that adolescents who live in below-average financial conditions demonstrate more auto-aggressive behavior than adolescents living in average or above-average family financial circumstances. ConclusionsFinancial deprivation and perception of financial stress significantly affects the incidence of auto-aggression among adolescents. Through this research we emphasize the importance of social support to parents of adolescents who grow up in financially challenged families as well as to target key preventive interventions related to working in partnership with such families.

Psychiatric and legal aspects of the use of direct coercion in special education

Use of direct coercion is a very peculiar situation, as it requires the use of force against another human being. Licence to take such action must be governed by the law, in the case of psychiatric care stipulated in the provisions of Mental Health Protection Act. Under this act, doctors and nurses are authorised to use such means as restraint, seclusion, and/or administration of relevant drugs under force to a patient displaying aggressive or auto-aggressive behaviour. Similar behaviours, however, can also be presented by special education students, some of who were once patients of psychiatric hospitals. Educators in schools are not allowed or authorised to use physical force against a student. What should a teacher do in a situation of aggression on the part of a student to protect their own and other people’s safety? Is it permissible in certain situations to restrain a student? Perhaps in some clearly defined cases teachers have an obligation to use force against a student with a disability? This article is an attempt to answer these questions.

Pratique de l’isolement chez des patients hospitalisés sous contrainte dans un service universitaire d’urgences psychiatriques. Revue de 266 dossiers

PurposeThe seclusion is a tool of psychiatric care of common use. Few works studied its use in emergency psychiatry unit. The purpose of our study is to determine what are factors bound to a levying of the seclusion in a service of psychiatric emergencies. MethodsOur study is retrospective, descriptive on 266 episodes of seclusion for patients hospitalized under constraint, in the service of Psychiatric Emergencies of the University hospital of Saint-Étienne (France). ResultsThe results show that the histories of psychosis (P=0.0001), drug abuse (P=0.0326), hospitalization in psychiatry (P=0.0307), an age lower than 37 (P=0.0113), a diagnosis of psychotic episode (P=0.0023), symptoms of agitation (P=0.0038), behavior disorders (P=0.0012) and delusion (P<0.0001) or maniac episode (P=0.0006) at the beginning of the hospitalisation are connected with maintain of seclusion during the transfer in another psychiatric department. While the histories of alcohol abuse (P=0.0001), mental pathology connected with alcohol abuse (P=0.0326), suicide attempt (P=0.0275), an age higher than 41 years (P=0.0113), a diagnosis of disorders connected with a psychoactive substances abuse (P=0.0023) or personality disorders (P=0.0014), auto-aggressive behavior (P=0.0013), behavior problems linked to drug abuse (P=0.0014) and depressive symptoms (P=0.0006) are bound to a levying of the seclusion in the psychiatric emergencies. The patients for whom the seclusion is maintained in the unit are more quickly transferred towards another unit and their average duration of stay is lower than those for which seclusion is raised in the psychiatric emergency unit (P=0.0007). Our study highlights that seclusion was used within two different frameworks: on the one hand in management of mental chronic disease requiring care with long course (patient whose seclusion is maintained) and on the other hand for the care of the patients having a profile of “crisis” and for which seclusion is more easily raised. ConclusionsOur results thus allow the clinician to determine with more objectivity, at the beginning of the hospitalisation in the psychiatric emergencies unit, if the whole of the clinical situation could be managed in the unit, in a few days (“crisis” or “psychiatric emergencies”) or if an early orientation towards a general psychiatry unit must be done (“psychiatry in emergency”). It seems to be important to be able to carry on this type of studies so as to support a clinical reflexion on the rational and reasoned use of seclusion in the emergency care, and thus to decrease of it the use by reconsidering the care in particular around the problem of management of violence in practice psychiatric.

“HIGH-RISK”: A Useful Tool for Improving Police Decision-Making in Hostage and Barricade Incidents

The aim of the study is to examine several combinations of risk factors known to the police – i.e., perpetrator and situational characteristics of the incidents – leading to two possible outcomes in domestic hostage and barricade incidents (HBI): autoaggressive and heteroaggressive behaviors from the perpetrator. Using a series of conjunctive analyses on a sample of 534 hostage and barricade incidents, results show that, depending on the specific combination of factors, the likelihood of violence could very much vary, suggesting that the checklist approach is not adequate for risk assessment in hostage and barricade incidents. HIGH-RISK represents a decision support system that can be easily integrated to any crisis-intervention structure (CIS) or police unit dealing with hostage and barricade incidents.

Analysis of clinical рsychopathological factors influencing the emergence autoaggressive behavior in of military age

Analysis of clinical рsychopathological factors influencing the emergence autoaggressive behavior in of military age

Do not pose a threat to me—My dark side will force me to even walk over my dead body

Even though Machiavellianist’s engagement in overt antisocial behaviour is rare, due to their lacking self-control, threatened narcissists and subclinical psychopaths showed aggression to others in past research. Because past research also suggested that there is a common core for these Dark Triad measures we sought to investigate whether auto-aggressive behaviour in non-clinical populations can be explained by the Dark Triad. As Dark Triad members tend to cheat in academic settings and narcissists feel hostility from upward comparison, participants ( N = 59) were put in a situation where they assumed to fail against an opponent in a memory task. They were told that they could hinder the opponent’s memory phase, if they accepted possible retaliation by the opponent. Results show that the DT positively influenced this self-harming behaviour. Consequences of these findings will be discussed.

Procena maladaptivnog ponašanja kod osoba sa težim oblicima intelektualne ometenosti

The most common forms of maladaptive behaviors in persons with intellectual disability are aggressive, destructive and auto aggressive behavior. The aim of this paper is to review the available literature indicate various possibilities of behavioral assessment in people with severe intellectual disability. By researching of electronic databases Serbian Library Consortium for Coordinated Acquisition - KOBSON were collected and analyzed papers that processed topic of behavioral problems in people with severe forms of intellectual disability. By analyzing of available papers was observed that many authors emphasize the importance of behavioral approaches to assessment and treatment of behavioral problems in people with severe intellectual disability. Besides the commonly used indirect, researchers point to the importance of the descriptive and experimental methods to assess. The paper describes seven instruments for assessing behavioral problems.

Body Piercing and Self-Mutilation: A Multifaceted Relationship

Goal was to examine the connection between piercings and self-mutilation and the practice of self-piercing. Participants (n=140) completed an anonymous online survey consisting of a 54-item questionnaire and a standardized personality test. All respondents were members of internet communities specialized on piercings. The majority of participants (77.1%) were female, 22.9% were male. The mean age of the group was 24.7 years (range: 16-57 years). Participants had an average of 8.9 piercings. More than half (57.9%) of participants were between 15 and 20 years old when they acquired their first piercing. The most common piercings reported were facial (in 82.9% of participants), ear cartilage (in 67.9% of participants), nipple (in 48.6% of participants) and genital piercings (in 45.0% of participants). Participants were asked to complete the NEO-FFI personality inventory, which is a tool used to measure the personality factors Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Openness and Neuroticism. Although all of the NEO-FFI results were within the average norm, significant differences between the participants with/without self-injury were found regarding the T-Scores for Neuroticism and Agreeableness. Thirty-one percent of the participants reported a history of self-mutilation. Those with a history of self-mutilation did not have more piercings than their peers. Half of these individuals described a decrease in auto-aggressive behavior since having acquired piercings, twenty-five percent claim to have ceased self-injurious behavior. The incidence of self-mutilation appears to be higher among pierced individuals than among the general public. Participants who had engaged in self-injury had significantly more often self-pierced. Piercings and self-piercings may serve as substitute behavior for self-mutilation in some individuals.

Скрининговая диагностика антивитальных переживаний и склонности к импульсивному, аутоагрессивному поведению у подростков (предварительные результаты)

Development of methods for revealing antivital experiences and propensity to autoaggressive behavior in educational institutions is one of the key steps in developing strategies for the primary prevention of suicidal behavior in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to develop an effective screening diagnostic package aimed at identifying antivital experiences and propensity to autoaggressive behavior. The survey methods we used were: Beck Hopelessness Scale, Russell Loneliness Scale, A.G. Shmelev Suicide Risk Questionnaire, PDQ-IV Borderline disorder and Narcissism scales. At the first stage we examined 750 minors aged 12-18 and identified risk group (85 people – 11.4%), which included adolescents with high levels of both individual scales, and their combination. At the second stage we examined 10 adolescents at risk. In 7 of them (70%) were identified antivital, suicidal thoughts of passive or compulsive nature, signs of subjective and objective socio- psychological maladjustment. Our preliminary conclusion is that high levels of hopelessness and loneliness in adolescents are stable predictors of mental and emotional distress and psychosocial maladjustment in the period of psychological crises and decompensation of character accentuation of borderline and narcissistic types. These scales can be recommended for primary screening of antivital (depressive) experiences and propensity to autoaggressive behavior in adolescents.

EPA-1222 – Suicidal crisis in a narcissistic female patient

The objective of this work is to discuss the problem of a suicidal crisis associated with pathological narcissism. Individuals with strong narcissistic traits often seek psychiatric help for the first time when they are in an acute crisis which occurs after a failure, embarrassment or significant loss. Narcissistic individuals do not possess support of good internal objects, and their self-cohesion is solely dependent on the outside world in the sense of merging with selfobjects which maintain archaic grandiose self-image. After experiencing injury to their self-esteem, people who function in this manner may manifest auto-aggressive behaviour, vulnerability, depressive feelings and dysphoria under which often lie intolerable affects such as rage, shame, envy and desire for revenge. Therefore, in an emergency setting a therapist might overlook pathological narcissism of such patients. However, careful observation of transference and countertransference can identify grandiose features of a narcissistic individual in the form of domination, omnipotent control, seeking special treatment, or through devaluation of the therapist. We present an acute suicidal crisis of a young female patient with strong narcissistic traits who had sought psychiatric help at the Crisis Intervention Centre after breaking up an emotional relationship. We describe early psychotherapeutic interventions and transference/countertransference issues and discuss different psychodynamic meanings of suicidal behaviour and incapability for mourning which is inherent in narcissistic individuals.