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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Mood Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1508791

People with symptoms of depression and those at significant risk of suicide show differences in their personality profile and sense of meaning in life

Provisionally accepted
Kacper Deska Kacper Deska 1*Grzegorz Mirocha Grzegorz Mirocha 2Bartłomiej Bąk Bartłomiej Bąk 3Anna Mirgos-Wierzchowska Anna Mirgos-Wierzchowska 3Marcin Kosmalski Marcin Kosmalski 1*Monika Różycka-Kosmalska Monika Różycka-Kosmalska 4Tadeusz Pietras Tadeusz Pietras 1
  • 1 Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Łódź, Poland
  • 2 Department of Biostatistics and Translational Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
  • 3 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rehabilitation Hospital - Konstancin-Zdrój Health Resort, Konstancin Jeziorna, Poland, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Poland
  • 4 Department of Electrocardiology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Medical students are exposed to various stressors. Among the many factors that determine the possibility of a mental crisis, there is also a personality profile and a sense of meaning in life.& Methods: Sets of anonymous surveys were distributed among medical students of different years studying at the Medical University of Lodz. The set of surveys included a sociodemographic survey, Beck's Depression Inventory version II (BDI-II), the NEO Five Factory Inventory (NEO-FFI), Reker's Life Attitude Profile -Revised questionnaire (LAP-R), Osman's Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ-R).Results: The study cohort comprised of 276 students (mean age 21.7 years). According to the BDI-II, 79 participants (28.4%) were identified as having depressive symptoms. Additionally, 80 participants (28.9%) were assessed to be at significant risk of suicide according to the SBQ-R scale. Based on the results of these questionnaires, we identified four groups: 1. Participants with depressive symptoms (D). 2. Participants with suicide risk (SR), 3. Participants with both depressive symptoms with suicide risk (D and SR), 4. A control group. Students from D and D and SR groups, exhibited higher neuroticism scores compared to those with suicide risk alone (SR) and the control group. In terms of extroversion, the control and SR groups scored higher compared to the D with SR group. Participants with SR and those with D and SR had higher openness scores compared to the D and control groups. D and SR group obtained statistical lower score then control group in the terms of conscientiousness.In life control score, participants in D and D with SR group has significant lower score then SR and control group. The conditions: personal meaning index and life attitude balance in the control group achived significantly higher values compared to all other groups. Conclusion: People with depressive symptoms, suicide risk and both of these variables simultaneously differed in terms of personality profile and components influencing the meaning of life.

    Keywords: depressive symptoms, suicide risk, Personality, Sense of life, Medical students

    Received: 09 Oct 2024; Accepted: 14 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Deska, Mirocha, Bąk, Mirgos-Wierzchowska, Kosmalski, Różycka-Kosmalska and Pietras. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Kacper Deska, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Łódź, Poland
    Marcin Kosmalski, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Łódź, Poland

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