No abstract

No abstract

The study aimed to investigate the relationship between depression and aggression. 681 depressive and non-depressive subjects of the general population as well as 132 depressive patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory Revised (BDI-II) as well as the Short Questionnaire for Gathering Factors of Aggressiveness (K-FAF).Depressive patients and depressive subjects of the general population did not merely report the highest levels of self-aggressiveness but also reached the highest scores on the scales of reactive and proactive aggression, indicating a high level of externalizing aggressiveness. The results support the neurobiological approach of the etiology of depressive disorders. For future research of depressive disorders and aggression the investigation of the mediating roles of a low serotonin-level is recommended.

This study examined whether the associations between self‐aggression and different forms of externalized aggression (reactive and spontaneous aggression) are influenced by self‐esteem and current psychopathological symptoms. For this purpose, we asked 681 participants from the general population (GP) and 282 general psychiatric patients (PPs) to answer the German versions of the Short Questionnaire for Assessing Factors of Aggression (K‐FAF), the Multidimensional Self‐Esteem Scale (MSWS), and the Brief Symptom Inventory 25 Forensic (BSI‐25‐F). Statistically, we performed descriptive and mediation analyses. Our findings indicated that in both samples the association between self‐aggression and reactive aggression was mediated by self‐esteem but not by current psychological problems. The association between self‐aggression and spontaneous aggression was mediated by self‐esteem in the GP sample and by psychopathological symptoms in the PP sample. We conclude that when examining the association between self‐aggression and externalized aggression it is important to consider the various subtypes of externalized aggression and differences between populations.

The relation between patient and therapist has a substantial effect on the success of psychotherapy. So far, in German-speaking regions questionnaires translated from English have been used, particularly for studying outpatients. Studies investigating and concerned with specialised features of hospitalised forensic psychiatry patients are sparse. The preliminary results of this study evaluating a recently developed questionnaire aimed to investigate the quality of the therapeutic relationship in forensic psychiatry ("Fragebogen zur therapeutischen Beziehung in der Forensik, FTBF") are reported. The data were collected both in general and forensic psychiatry departments. Factor analyses yielded two essential factors, namely "positive emotional aspects" (12 items, main features trust, respect, helpfulness, harmony, and sympathy; Cronbach's α = .933) and "negative emotional aspects" (4 items, main features power divide and punishment; Cronbach's α = .805). Forensic patients experienced power divide and punishment tendencies more intensively than general psychiatry patients (p < 0.001). Our questionnaire therefore demonstrates not only excellent reliabilities but also differential validity, enabling a differentiation between general and forensic psychiatry patients. Studies with larger samples would enable conclusions about the impact of the therapists' perspective, specific diagnostic subgroups and different psychotherapeutic orientations, on the patient-therapist relationship in forensic psychiatry.