Psychopathology and female detention at the "Pagliarelli" jail of Palermo: Preliminary results

Abstract

Most of the studies carried out on prisoners have considered male samples or they investigated specific psychiatric disorders. The present study aims to estimate the presence of current and lifetime psychiatric disorders among female inmates. Secondary aims are to evaluate the correlation between a current psychiatric disorder and other variables, and the association with a psycho-pharmacotherapy and a request for a clinical psychological interview.The study included 25 women with a final sentence at the "Casa Circondariale Pagliarelli" from October 2016 to July 2017. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to assess the presence of any current or lifetime psychiatric disorder. Exact two-side Fisher test and independent samples Mann-U-Whitney test were used when appropriate to compare characteristics of people with and without a current or lifetime psychiatric history.Eleven inmates presented a psychiatric disorder at the time of the interview, nine of them had a history of past diagnosis. These percentages are higher than that expected in the general population but are lower than those found in previous studies on larger male samples. A major depressive disorder was predicted by a more extended period spent in prison, away from loved one people. Almost the totality of women with a current psychiatric diagnosis asked for psychological support and took medications, especially benzodiazepines alone or in combination with other drugs.The study suggests the need to determine the specific characteristics that differentiate men from women in the adaptation to the custodial regime.