Sonia Bess Constantén’s scientific contributions

A descriptive, prospective and cross-sectional study was conducted in the health area of the "Carlos J. Finlay" Polyclinic, in Santiago de Cuba, in order to compare the family environment of those patients classified as suicide risk with that of the other group with similar characteristics not controlled by this cause. Among the 44 patients at risk that were surveyed, it was found a predmoninace of the female sex and of ages 15-19. Most of them had been classified as at risk for history of suicide attempt, early pregnancy and suicide announcement. The dysthymic disorders and the incipient alterations of the disinhibited-type personality prevailed in the pathological personal history corresponding to the psychiatric sphere. The family pathological history of suicide risk and attempt proved to be more frequent in the study group than in the control group. Family dysfunction and the absence of both parents were factors associated with the suicide risk. Suicide ideas, impulsiveness and the affective disorders were the commonest psychopathological manifestations.