The study's objective was to describe the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of women inmates and verify the prevalence of depressive symptoms and hopelessness and drug and alcohol use, abuse, and addiction. The sample included 287 inmates at a Women's Penitentiary in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. The study design was quantitative and cross-sectional. According to the findings, the typical female inmate was single, young, had at least two children, had worked in the informal market, and had low social and/or economic status and incomplete primary schooling. There was a high prevalence of depressive symptoms and drug use, abuse, and addiction, but a low prevalence of symptoms of hopelessness. Various factors, especially linked to the participants' life history, were significantly associated with depressive symptoms.
Prisoners; Women; Depression; Street Drugs
