Suicidal Behavior and Personality Traits

Abstract

One hundred male patients admitted to the Crisis Intervention Unit at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia, were chosen for the study. Based on the presence or absence of suicidal behavior the patients were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of 21 patients whose reasons for admission did not include suicidal ideations or gestures (nonsuicidal group). The second group consisted of 42 patients who expressed suicidal thoughts on admission (“passively” suicidal group). The third group of 37 was admitted for suicidal gestures (“actively” suicided group). The personality structure of all patients was evaluated using the Personality Disorder Examination (PDE), a structured diagnostic interview developed by Loranger et al. Personality traits of patients in the three groups were compared. The patients with suicidal ideations and actively suicidal patients endorsed significantly higher numbers of pathological personality traits than nonsuicidal patients. The most common pathological personality traits in each of the groups were borderline, avoidant, and compulsive. The borderline traits were nearly twice as common in “suicidal” groups than in the nonsuicidal group. Avoidant personality traits increased between nonsuicidal and “passively” suicidal groups, and the “actively” suicidal group had the highest incidence of avoidant traits. Virtually no difference in the frequency of compulsive traits was found between groups. The combination of borderline and avoidant traits was the most common for the patients with suicidal gestures. This study seems to indicate the value of evaluation of personality structure in predicting suicidal behavior. More clinical research is needed to clarify these issues.