Abstract
Suicide among prisoners has long been a concern. Childhood trauma has been considered as a distal risk factor for suicide risk among prisoners, but the underlying influencing mechanism has been less studied. There is evidence that alexithymia and depressive symptoms may play important roles in the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide risk. The present study aims to confirm alexithymia and depressive symptoms as risk factors of suicide risk, and to clarify the interactions among childhood trauma, alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and suicide risk in Chinese male prisoners. Data were collected from 430 male prisoners in China. Childhood trauma, alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and suicide risk are measured. The current study has found that childhood trauma, alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and suicide risk were common in China’s prison population, with a prevalence of 87.9%, 29.1%, 80.7%, and 13.0%, respectively. Childhood trauma, alexithymia, and depressive symptoms were positively associated with suicide risk in these prisoners. Alexithymia and depressive symptoms showed significant mediating effects on the association of childhood trauma and suicide risk. The further analyses showed that a significant direct effect on suicide risk was found for childhood abuse but not for childhood neglect. Abuse influenced suicide risk both directly and indirectly, whereas neglect influenced suicide risk through mediating paths only. Prisoners with childhood trauma are at higher risk of suicide, and alexithymia and depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and suicide risk. Attention should be paid to the alexithymia and depressive symptoms of prisoners who have traumatic experience, and the subtypes of childhood trauma should be considered when it needs to establish and conduct precise intervention.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Aas, M., Henry, C., Bellivier, F., Lajnef, M., Gard, S., Kahn, J. P., Lagerberg, T. V., Aminoff, S. R., Bjella, T., Leboyer, M., Andreassen, O. A., Melle, I., & Etain, B. (2017). Affective lability mediates the association between childhood trauma and suicide attempts, mixed episodes and co-morbid anxiety disorders in bipolar disorders. Psychological Medicine, 47(5), 902–912. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291716003081
Altintas, M., & Bilici, M. (2018). Evaluation of childhood trauma with respect to criminal behavior, dissociative experiences, adverse family experiences and psychiatric backgrounds among prison inmates. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 82, 100–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.12.006
Angelakis, I., Austin, J. L., & Gooding, P. (2020). Childhood maltreatment and suicide attempts in prisoners: a systematic meta-analytic review. Psychological Medicine, 50(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291719002848
Angelakis, I., Gillespie, E. L., & Panagioti, M. (2019). Childhood maltreatment and adult suicidality: a comprehensive systematic review with meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 49(7), 1057–1078. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291718003823
Aust, S., Härtwig, E. A., Heuser, I., & Bajbouj, M. (2013). The role of early emotional neglect in alexithymia. Psychological Trauma: Theory Research Practice and Policy, 5(3), 225–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027314
Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D., & Taylor, G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale–I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38(1), 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(94)90005-1
Barnert, E. S., Dudovitz, R., Nelson, B. B., Coker, T. R., Biely, C., Li, N., & Chung, P. J. (2017). How does incarcerating young people affect their adult health outcomes? Pediatrics, 139(2). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2624
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., Ball, R., & Ranieri, W. (1996). Comparison of beck depression inventories -IA and -II in psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Personality Assessment, 67(3), 588–597. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6703_13
Behr Gomes Jardim, G., Novelo, M., Spanemberg, L., von Gunten, A., Engroff, P., Nogueira, E. L., & Neto, C. (2018). Influence of childhood abuse and neglect subtypes on late-life suicide risk beyond depression. Child Abuse and Neglect, 80, 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.03.029
Berardelli, I., & Serafini, G. (2020). The involvement of Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis in suicide risk. Brain Sciences, 10(9), 653. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10090653
Bernstein, D. P., Stein, J. A., Newcomb, M. D., Walker, E., Pogge, D., Ahluvalia, T., Stokes, J., Handelsman, L., Medrano, M., Desmond, D., & Zule, W. (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse and Neglect, 27(2), 169–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0145-2134(02)00541-0
Blair, K. S., Aloi, J., Crum, K., Meffert, H., White, S. F., Taylor, B. K., Leiker, E. K., Thornton, L. C., Tyler, P. M., Shah, N., Johnson, K., Abdel-Rahim, H., Lukoff, J., Dobbertin, M., Pope, K., Pollak, S., & Blair, R. J. (2019). Association of different types of childhood maltreatment with emotional responding and response control among youths. JAMA Network Open, 2(5), e194604. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.4604
Briere, J., Agee, E., & Dietrich, A. (2016). Cumulative trauma and current posttraumatic stress disorder status in general population and inmate samples. Psychological Trauma, 8(4), 439–446. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000107
Brown, J., Cohen, P., Johnson, J. G., & Smailes, E. M. (1999). Childhood abuse and neglect: specificity of effects on adolescent and young adult depression and suicidality. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(12), 1490–1496. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199912000-00009
Calati, R., Ferrari, C., Brittner, M., Oasi, O., Olié, E., Carvalho, A. F., & Courtet, P. (2019). Suicidal thoughts and behaviors and social isolation: A narrative review of the literature. Journal of Affective Disorders, 245, 653–667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.11.022
Chen, L., Xu, L., You, W., Zhang, X., & Ling, N. (2017). Prevalence and associated factors of alexithymia among adult prisoners in China: a cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry, 17(1), 287. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1443-7
Cheng, T. W., Mills, K. L., Dominguez, M., Zeithamova, O., Perrone, D., Sturgeon, A., Ewing, D. F., Fisher, S. W., Pfeifer, P. A., Fair, J. H., & Seghete, M. (2021). Characterizing the impact of adversity, abuse, and neglect on adolescent amygdala resting-state functional connectivity. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 47, 100894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100894
Chiu, Y. C., Liu, S. I., Lin, C. J., Huang, Y. H., Fang, C. K., Sun, F. J., Kao, K. L., Huang, Y. P., & Wu, S. I. (2019). The psychometric properties in the Chinese version of the reasons for living inventory and the relationship with suicidal behaviors among psychiatric patients in Taiwan. Behavioral Medicine, 45(3), 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2018.1444577
Chu, C., Buchman-Schmitt, J. M., Stanley, I. H., Hom, M. A., Tucker, R. P., Hagan, C. R., Rogers, M. L., Podlogar, M. C., Chiurliza, B., Ringer, F. B., Michaels, M. S., Patros, C. H. G., & Joiner, T. E. (2017). The interpersonal theory of suicide: A systematic review and meta-analysis of a decade of cross-national research. Psychological Bulletin, 143(12), 1313–1345. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000123
Conejero, I., Olié, E., Calati, R., Ducasse, D., & Courtet, P. (2018). Psychological pain, depression, and suicide: Recent evidences and future directions. Current Psychiatry Reports, 20(5), 33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0893-z
Cross, D., Fani, N., Powers, A., & Bradley, B. (2017). Neurobiological development in the context of childhood trauma. Clinical Psychology (New York), 24(2), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12198
Di Trani, M., Mariani, R., Renzi, A., Greenman, P. S., & Solano, L. (2018). Alexithymia according to Bucci’s multiple code theory: A preliminary investigation with healthy and hypertensive individuals. Psychology and Psychotherapy, 91(2), 232–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12158
Domalanta, D. D., Risser, W. L., Roberts, R. E., & Risser, J. M. (2003). Prevalence of depression and other psychiatric disorders among incarcerated youths. Journal of the American Academy of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(4), 477–484. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000046819.95464.0b
Dvorak, R. D., Lamis, D. A., & Malone, P. S. (2013). Alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and impulsivity as risk factors for suicide proneness among college students. Journal of Affective Disorders, 149(1–3), 326–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.046
English, D. J., Upadhyaya, M. P., Litrownik, A. J., Marshall, J. M., Runyan, D. K., Graham, J. C., & Dubowitz, H. (2005). Maltreatment’s wake: the relationship of maltreatment dimensions to child outcomes. Child Abuse and Neglect, 29(5), 597–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.12.008
Fang, Y., Zeng, B., Chen, P., Mai, Y., Teng, S., Zhang, M., Zhao, J., Yang, X., & Zhao, J. (2019). Mindfulness and suicide risk in undergraduates: Exploring the mediating effect of alexithymia. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2106. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02106
Favril, L., Indig, D., Gear, C., & Wilhelm, K. (2020). Mental disorders and risk of suicide attempt in prisoners. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55(9), 1145–1155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01851-7
Fazel, S., Grann, M., Kling, B., & Hawton, K. (2011). Prison suicide in 12 countries: an ecological study of 861 suicides during 2003–2007. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 46(3), 191–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-010-0184-4
Fazel, S., Ramesh, T., & Hawton, K. (2017). Suicide in prisons: an international study of prevalence and contributory factors. Lancet Psychiatry, 4(12), 946–952. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(17)30430-3
Fazel, S., & Runeson, B. (2020). Suicide. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(3), 266–274. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1902944
Ford, K., Bellis, M. A., Hughes, K., Barton, E. R., & Newbury, A. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences: a retrospective study to understand their associations with lifetime mental health diagnosis, self-harm or suicide attempt, and current low mental wellbeing in a male Welsh prison population. Health Justice, 8(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-020-00115-5
Gawęda, Ł, Pionke, R., Krężołek, M., Frydecka, D., Nelson, B., & Cechnicki, A. (2020). The interplay between childhood trauma, cognitive biases, psychotic-like experiences and depression and their additive impact on predicting lifetime suicidal behavior in young adults. Psychological Medicine, 50(1), 116–124. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291718004026
Ghasemi, P., Shaghaghi, A., & Allahverdipour, H. (2015). Measurement scales of suicidal ideation and attitudes: A systematic review article. Health Promotion Perspective, 5(3), 156–168. https://doi.org/10.15171/hpp.2015.019
Güleç, H., Köse, S., Güleç, M. Y., Çitak, S., Evren, C., Borckardt, J., & Sayar, K. (2009). Reliability and factorial validity of the Turkish version of the 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20). Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 19(3), 214.
He, J., Zhong, X., Gao, Y., Xiong, G., & Yao, S. (2019). Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) among undergraduates and depressive patients. Child Abuse and Neglect, 91, 102–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.03.009
Hemming, L., Bhatti, P., Shaw, J., Haddock, G., & Pratt, D. (2020). Words don’t come easy: How male prisoners’ difficulties identifying and discussing feelings relate to suicide and violence. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 581390. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.581390
Hemming, L., Shaw, J., Haddock, G., Carter, L. A., & Pratt, D. (2021). A cross-sectional study investigating the relationship between alexithymia and suicide, violence, and dual harm in male prisoners. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 670863. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.670863
Hemming, L., Taylor, P., Haddock, G., Shaw, J., & Pratt, D. (2019). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between alexithymia and suicide ideation and behaviour. Journal of Affective Disorders, 254, 34–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.05.013
Hildyard, K. L., & Wolfe, D. A. (2002). Child neglect: developmental issues and outcomes. Child Abuse and Neglect, 26(6–7), 679–695. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0145-2134(02)00341-1
Hintikka, J., Honkalampi, K., Koivumaa-Honkanen, H., Antikainen, R., Tanskanen, A., Haatainen, K., & Viinamäki, H. (2004). Alexithymia and suicidal ideation: a 12-month follow-up study in a general population. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 45(5), 340–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2004.06.008
Hoemann, K., Xu, F., & Barrett, L. F. (2019). Emotion words, emotion concepts, and emotional development in children: A constructionist hypothesis. Developmental Psychology, 55(9), 1830–1849. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000686
Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., Mullen, & Michael, R. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods.
Hovens, J. G., Giltay, E. J., Spinhoven, P., van Hemert, A. M., & Penninx, B. W. (2015). Impact of childhood life events and childhood trauma on the onset and recurrence of depressive and anxiety disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 76(7), 931–938. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.14m09135
Huang, M., Bliwise, D. L., Hall, M. H., Johnson, D. A., Sloan, R. P., Shah, A., Goldberg, J., & Ko, Y. A. (2021). Association of depressive symptoms with sleep disturbance: A co-twin control study. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaab040
Iskric, A., Ceniti, A. K., Bergmans, Y., McInerney, S., & Rizvi, S. J. (2020). Alexithymia and self-harm: A review of nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. Psychiatry Research, 288, 112920. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112920
Jennissen, S., Holl, J., Mai, H., Wolff, S., & Barnow, S. (2016). Emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between child maltreatment and psychopathology: A structural equation model. Child Abuse and Neglect, 62, 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.10.015
Kajanoja, J., Karukivi, M., Scheinin, N. M., Ahrnberg, H., Karlsson, L., & Karlsson, H. (2021). Early-life adversities and adult attachment in depression and alexithymia. Development and Psychopathology, 33(4), 1428–1436. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579420000607
Karaca Dinç, P., Oktay, S., & Durak Batıgün, A. (2021). Mediation role of alexithymia, sensory processing sensitivity and emotional-mental processes between childhood trauma and adult psychopathology: a self-report study. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1), 508. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03532-4
Kealy, D., Ogrodniczuk, J. S., & Rice, S. M. (2018). Alexithymia, suicidal ideation and health-risk behaviours: a survey of Canadian men. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 22(1), 77–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2017.1324992
Kim-Spoon, J., Herd, T., Brieant, A., Peviani, K., Deater-Deckard, K., Lauharatanahirun, N., Lee, J., & King-Casas, B. (2021). Maltreatment and brain development: The effects of abuse and neglect on longitudinal trajectories of neural activation during risk processing and cognitive control. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 48, 100939.
Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford publications.
Kooiman, C. G., van Rees Vellinga, S., Spinhoven, P., Draijer, N., Trijsburg, R. W., & Rooijmans, H. G. (2004). Childhood adversities as risk factors for alexithymia and other aspects of affect dysregulation in adulthood. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 73(2), 107–116. https://doi.org/10.1159/000075542
Kyung-Sook, W., SangSoo, S., Sangjin, S., & Young-Jeon, S. (2018). Marital status integration and suicide: A meta-analysis and meta-regression. Social Science and Medicine, 197, 116–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.053
Li, S., Zhang, B., Guo, Y., & Zhang, J. (2015). The association between alexithymia as assessed by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and depression: A meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research, 227(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.02.006
Liu, H., Wang, W., Yang, J., Guo, F., & Yin, Z. (2021). The effects of alexithymia, experiential avoidance, and childhood sexual abuse on non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideation among Chinese college students with a history of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Affective Disorders, 282, 272–279.
Lu, L., Jian, S., & Dong, M. (2020). Childhood trauma and suicidal ideation among Chinese university students: the mediating effect of Internet addiction and school bullying victimisation. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 29, e152. https://doi.org/10.1017/s2045796020000682
Mai, Y., Yang, R., Wu, X., Xie, Z., Zhang, X., Yang, X., Liu, H., & Zhao, J. (2021). Impulsiveness and suicide in male offenders: Examining the buffer roles of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and flourishing. Psychology and Psychotherapy, 94(2), 289–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12312
Mandelli, L., Carli, V., Roy, A., Serretti, A., & Sarchiapone, M. (2011). The influence of childhood trauma on the onset and repetition of suicidal behavior: An investigation in a high risk sample of male prisoners. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(6), 742–747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.11.005
Mandelli, L., Petrelli, C., & Serretti, A. (2015). The role of specific early trauma in adult depression: A meta-analysis of published literature. Childhood trauma and adult depression. European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 30(6), 665–680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2015.04.007
Marusak, H. A., Martin, K. R., Etkin, A., & Thomason, M. E. (2015). Childhood trauma exposure disrupts the automatic regulation of emotional processing. Neuropsychopharmacology: Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 40(5), 1250–1258. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2014.311
McGowan, P. O., Sasaki, A., D’Alessio, A. C., Dymov, S., Labonté, B., Szyf, M., Turecki, G., & Meaney, M. J. (2009). Epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor in human brain associates with childhood abuse. Nature Neuroscience, 12(3), 342–348. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2270
McLaughlin, K. A., & Sheridan, M. A. (2016). Beyond cumulative risk: A dimensional approach to childhood adversity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(4), 239–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721416655883
McLaughlin, K. A., Sheridan, M. A., & Lambert, H. K. (2014). Childhood adversity and neural development: deprivation and threat as distinct dimensions of early experience. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 47, 578–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.10.012
Mostafa Alim, S., Ahmed, M. N., Mullick, M. S. I., Chowdhury, N. F., Akhter, F., & Alam, M. S. (2020). Validation of the Bangla version of Beck Depression Inventory-II. Brain and Behavior: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective, 10(3), e01563. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1563
Nemiah, J. C. (1976). Alexithymia: A view of the psychosomatic process. Modern Trends in Psychosomatic Medicine, 3, 430–439.
Osman, A., Bagge, C. L., Gutierrez, P. M., Konick, L. C., Kopper, B. A., & Barrios, F. X. (2001). The Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R): validation with clinical and nonclinical samples. Assessment, 8(4), 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/107319110100800409
Paivio, S. C., & McCulloch, C. R. (2004). Alexithymia as a mediator between childhood trauma and self-injurious behaviors. Child Abuse and Neglect, 28(3), 339–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.11.018
Panayiotou, G., Leonidou, C., Constantinou, E., Hart, J., Rinehart, K. L., Sy, J. T., & Björgvinsson, T. (2015). Do alexithymic individuals avoid their feelings? Experiential avoidance mediates the association between alexithymia, psychosomatic, and depressive symptoms in a community and a clinical sample. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 56, 206–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.09.006
Pears, K. C., & Fisher, P. A. (2005). Emotion understanding and theory of mind among maltreated children in foster care: evidence of deficits. Development and Psychopathology, 17(1), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579405050030
Peng, W., Liu, Z., Liu, Q., Chu, J., Zheng, K., Wang, J., Wei, H., & Zhong, M. (2021). Insecure attachment and maladaptive emotion regulation mediating the relationship between childhood trauma and borderline personality features. Depression and Anxiety, 38(1), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23082
Petrenko, C. L., Friend, A., Garrido, E. F., Taussig, H. N., & Culhane, S. E. (2012). Does subtype matter? Assessing the effects of maltreatment on functioning in preadolescent youth in out-of-home care. Child Abuse and Neglect, 36(9), 633–644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.07.001
Pollak, S. D., Cicchetti, D., Hornung, K., & Reed, A. (2000). Recognizing emotion in faces: developmental effects of child abuse and neglect. Developmental Psychology, 36(5), 679–688. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.5.679
Power, J., Gobeil, R., Beaudette, J. N., Ritchie, M. B., Brown, S. L., & Smith, H. P. (2016). Childhood abuse, nonsuicidal self-injury, and suicide attempts: An exploration of gender differences in incarcerated adults. Suicide and Lifethreatening Behavior, 46(6), 745–751. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12263
Puetz, V. B., Viding, E., Gerin, M. I., Pingault, J. B., Sethi, A., Knodt, A. R., Radtke, S. R., Brigidi, B. D., Hariri, A. R., & McCrory, E. (2020). Investigating patterns of neural response associated with childhood abuse v. childhood neglect. Psychological Medicine, 50(8), 1398–1407. https://doi.org/10.1017/s003329171900134x
Rokita, K. I., Holleran, L., Dauvermann, M. R., Mothersill, D., Holland, J., Costello, L., Kane, R., McKernan, D., Morris, D. W., Kelly, J. P., Corvin, A., Hallahan, B., McDonald, C., & Donohoe, G. (2020). Childhood trauma, brain structure and emotion recognition in patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 15(12), 1336–1350. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa160
Sarchiapone, M., Jovanović, N., Roy, A., Podlesek, A., Carli, V., Amore, M., Mancini, M., & Marušič, A. (2009). Relations of psychological characteristics to suicide behaviour: Results from a large sample of male prisoners. Personality and Individual differences, 47(4), 250–255.
Taiminen, T. J., Saarijärvi, S., Helenius, H., Keskinen, A., & Korpilahti, T. (1996). Alexithymia in suicide attempters. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 93(3), 195–198. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1996.tb10631.x
Terock, J., Van der Auwera, S., Janowitz, D., Wittfeld, K., Frenzel, S., Klinger-König, J., & Grabe, H. J. (2020). Childhood trauma and adult declarative memory performance in the general population: The mediating effect of alexithymia. Child Abuse and Neglect, 101, 104311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104311
Thompson, M. P., Kingree, J. B., & Lamis, D. (2019). Associations of adverse childhood experiences and suicidal behaviors in adulthood in a U.S. nationally representative sample. Child: Care, Health and Development, 45(1), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12617
Thompson, R. A. (1991). Emotional regulation and emotional development. Educational Psychology Review, 3(4), 269–307.
Trickett, P. K., & Mcbride-Chang, C. (1995). The developmental impact of different forms of child abuse and neglect. Developmental Review, 15(3), 311–337.
Tripp, D. A., Jones, K., Mihajlovic, V., Westcott, S., & MacQueen, G. (2022). Childhood trauma, depression, resilience and suicide risk in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease. Journal of Health Psychology, 27(7), 1626–1634. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105321999085
Turecki, G., Brent, D. A., Gunnell, D., O’Connor, R. C., Oquendo, M. A., Pirkis, J., & Stanley, B. H. (2019). Suicide and suicide risk. Nature Reviews. Disease Primers, 5(1), 74. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-019-0121-0
Vadini, F., Calella, G., Pieri, A., Ricci, E., Fulcheri, M., Verrocchio, M. C., De Risio, A., Sciacca, A., Santilli, F., & Parruti, G. (2018). Neurocognitive impairment and suicide risk among prison inmates. Journal of Affective Disorders, 225, 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.030
van Bodegom, M., Homberg, J. R., & Henckens, M. (2017). Modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by early life stress exposure. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 11, 87. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2017.00087
Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., Cukrowicz, K. C., Braithwaite, S. R., Selby, E. A., & Joiner, T. E., Jr. (2010). The interpersonal theory of suicide. Psychological Review, 117(2), 575–600. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018697
Wang, G. F., Han, A. Z., Zhang, G. B., Xu, N., Xie, G. D., Chen, L. R., Yuan, M. Y., & Su, P. Y. (2020). Sensitive periods for the effect of bullying victimization on suicidal behaviors among university students in China: The roles of timing and chronicity. Journal of Affective Disorders, 268, 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.02.049
Wolford-Clevenger, C., Brem, M. J., Elmquist, J., Florimbio, A. R., Smith, P. N., & Stuart, G. L. (2017). A test of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide among arrested domestic violence offenders. Psychiatry Research, 249, 195–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.01.029
Zarrati, I., Bermas, H., & Sabet, M. (2019). The relationship between childhood trauma and suicide ideation: Mediating role of mental pain. Annals of Military and Health Sciences Research, 17(1):e89266. https://doi.org/10.5812/amh.89266
Zdankiewicz-Ścigała, E., & Ścigała, D. K. (2019). Attachment style, early childhood trauma, alexithymia, and dissociation among persons addicted to alcohol: Structural equation model of dependencies. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2957. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02957
Zhang, H., Yang, C., Ou, Y., Tan, Y., Wu, S., Hu, M., Lai, X., Wang, Y., & Yang, X. (2021). Relationship between childhood trauma and suicidal risk in prisoners: the mediating effect of alexithymia. Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao, 41(2), 299–304. https://doi.org/10.12122/j.issn.1673-4254.2021.02.20
Zhao, J. B. (2006). Influencing of life meaning and cognitive factors on suicidal 21 ideation among medical college students. Southern Medical University]. Guangzhou.
Zhao, X. F., Zhang, Y. L., Li, L. F., Zhou, Y. F., & Yang, S. C. (2005). Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of childhood trauma questionnaire. Chinese Journal of Clinical Rehabilitation, 9(20), 105–107.
Zheng, F., Wu, W., Wang, L., Ngoubene-Atioky, A. J., & Chen, L. (2021). Childhood trauma and suicidal ideation among Chinese female prisoners: the mediating roles of negative emotions and social support. Personality and Individual differences, 168, 110405.
Zhong, S., Senior, M., Yu, R., Perry, A., Hawton, K., Shaw, J., & Fazel, S. (2021). Risk factors for suicide in prisons: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Public Health, 6(3), e164–e174. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(20)30233-4
Zhu, X., Yi, J., Yao, S., Ryder, A. G., Taylor, G. J., & Bagby, R. M. (2007). Cross-cultural validation of a Chinese translation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 48(5), 489–496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2007.04.007
Acknowledgements
We thank all the participants who took part in our survey and all the research assistants for data collection.
Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers: 31800928, 71874075); Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Project of the Ministry of Education, China (grant numbers: 22YJCZH182), and Guangzhou Philosophy and Social Sciences Development “13th Five-Year Plan” Planning Young Scholar Project of City of Rams (grant numbers: 2020GZQN42).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Xueling Yang and You Wang designed the study and the procedure, Peiyi Chen, Xiaoyang Ye and Caiyan Yang participated in the survey and collected the data; Peiyi Chen, Xiyuan Sun and Qiaofen Zhang analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
None.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, P., Sun, X., Zhang, Q. et al. Alexithymia and depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and suicidal risk in Chinese male prisoners. Curr Psychol 42, 29023–29034 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03975-2
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03975-2