Depression and anxiety, state/feature among inmates assigned to the "Induction to Treatment in Prison Program" in Bucaramanga, Colombia

This article describes the characteristic manifestations of the depression and anxiety state/feature, and their prevalence among inmates assigned to the "Programa de Induccion al Tratamiento Penitenciario" (Induction to the Treatment in Prison Program) of the INPEC, the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute at Bucaramanga, Colombia. The sample included 112 inmates with an average age of 33 years to whom the Depression State/Feature Inventory (known as IDER in Colombia) and the Anxiety State/Feature Inventory (known as STAI in Colombia) were applied. The results show that 43.1% of the inmates committed their first offense between 8 and 18 years of age, and 74.1% had used psychoactive substances, while the records of depressive manifestations reveal that 16.7% rated them as a state, and 43.68% as a feature. On the other hand, in 8.03% of the cases, anxiety was shown as a state, and in 85.7% as a feature. According to this, the ratio of individuals with previous experiences having developed a symptomatology was higher than those where the imprisonment situation is a cause or a triggering factor.