Gender-Based Violence in Adolescent Dating from a Medical Perspective: A Qualitative Study of the Needs Felt in Primary Healthcare Centres

Health Service Protection vis-à-vis the Detection of Psychosocial Risks of Suicide during the Years 2019-2021

Health services are especially relevant in suicide prevention and intervention, representing a favourable environment in which to implement specific strategies to detect and address suicidal behaviours. Indeed, a significant proportion of people who die by suicide (DBS) present at primary care and mental health services during the last year, month, or even days before committing suicide. The objective of this descriptive and cross-sectional study of all registered cases of death by suicide (N = 265) in Extremadura (Spain) was to determine which of those people who died by suicide had mental health problems (MHP) and what type of assistance they had requested. Diagnoses, previous suicide attempts, type of health service, and last visit before death were explored with univariate analyses and logistic regressions. The proportion of people without MHP was found to be high, and these people had hardly visited the health services at all in their last year. People with MHP, between the ages of 40 and 69, and with previous suicide attempts were more likely to have visited the mental health service in the three months prior to their death. It is, thus, necessary to provide health professionals with tools and training in the prevention of and approach to suicide. Efforts must be directed towards effectively assessing mental health and the risk of suicide since a large proportion of people who die by suicide may go unnoticed.

Suicidal Behaviour as an Emerging Factor in Female Victims of Gender-Based Violence within a Relationship: An Exploratory Study

Intimate partner violence (IPV), in addition to being an important public health problem, is a risk factor for suicidal behaviour (SB). The objective of this study was to explore the risk of suicidal behaviour associated with the different forms of abuse and the consequences derived from it. This exploratory study was conducted on a sample of women who experienced IPV (N = 70) in the Extremadura Region (Spain). Demographic factors, abuse experience, suicidal ideation (SI), suicidal communication (SC), and suicide attempts (SAs) were analysed according to the type of abuse. We found that a very high prevalence of psychological violence (IPVp) was accompanied, in most cases, by some other type of abuse (IPVp+). Additionally, a significant relationship was found between IPV and SB. Logistic regression revealed a greater risk of SI and SA in the IPVp+ group. The results of this study could be useful to healthcare service professionals in preventing suicidal behaviour.

Analysis of Representations of the Aid That Public Psychological Support Points Provide to Adolescent Female Victims of Gender-Based Violence: Reformulation of Policies and Practices

Gender-based violence in adolescence has become a social health problem that is creating great concern and interest worldwide. In this regard, knowledge of the role taken by the professionals responsible for screening, detecting, referring, and caring for adolescent victims is essential to be able to understand the phenomenon and its characteristics in a practical way. In this sense, psychologists specialising in the care of victims of adolescent gender-based violence have complete and in-depth knowledge, not only of the phenomenon itself and the way in which it is presented in society, but also of the features presented by these victims and the aspects that need to be worked on during the intervention process. Given this context, a series of interviews with psychologists specialised in the care of gender-based violence victims were subjected to a qualitative deductive/inductive analysis. These interviews addressed the psychologists' theoretical-practical knowledge about the adolescent gender-based violence phenomenon. The analysis of the results points to the victims' irrational ideas regarding abusive relationships, to the form in which Psychological Support Points are organised to help the victims, and to the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of these centres for them to be able to improve their operation and effectiveness in providing comprehensive care for adolescents beyond the psychological consultations themselves.