The Relationship Between Anxiety And Tendency To Violence İn Schizophrenia Patients Followed By A Community Mental Health Center

Aim: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between anxiety and tendency to violence in patients with schizophrenia followed by the community mental health center.

Method: In the study 97 individuals with schizophrenia who were followed up in a community mental health center between 1 March 2021 and 1 September 2021 were included. The data of the study were collected with the Descriptive Characteristics Form, the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (SAI and TAI), and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). In the analysis of data; number, percentage, mean, t-test and One-way Anova test were used.

Results: It was determined that 64,9% of the individuals were male, 60,8% were single, 41,2% were primary school graduates and 85,6% lived with their families. It was determined that the individuals got 76,54±17,08 points from PBAQ; 31,45±10,72 points from SAI, and 41,47±9,01 points from TAI. It was determined that 17,5% of the individuals within the scope of the study had experienced physical violence before, and 5,2% were exposed to violence by their families. It was observed that the anxiety levels of individuals who were exposed to violence by others were significantly higher (p<0,05). Within the scope of the study, no significant relationship was found between the mean scores of PBAQ, SAI, and TAI of the individuals (p>0.05).

Conclusion: In terms of preventing aggression, it is important to discover the perceptions of individuals with schizophrenia towards aggression and to determine the related factors. In the findings of our study, no significant relationship was found between the mean scores of PBAQ, SAI and TAI, and it is recommended to conduct further studies in which different parameters are evaluated in large samples.