Which Types of Aggressive Behaviour Are Associated with Suicidal and Self-Injurious Behaviour at the Time of Admission?

Abstract

Background: In psychiatry and psychotherapy, dealing with aggressiveness and autoaggressiveness is of great importance. Our aim was to find a link between overt aggressive and autoaggressive behaviour, which could be readily observed. Sampling and Methods: We investigated the frequency, type and intensity of aggressive, suicidal and self-injurious behaviour exhibited by 521 successively admitted psychiatric patients at the time of admission with the help of a standardised instrument (Social Dysfunction and Aggression Scale). The Social Dysfunction and Aggression Scale enables the investigation of 9 different types of overt aggressive behaviour and 2 different types of autoaggressive behaviour (suicidal vs. self-injurious behaviour). After calculating correlations between single variables, we attempted to estimate the predictive value of the different types of aggressive behaviour for suicidal and self-injurious behaviour by using ordinal regression models. In addition, the categorical information of our data was evaluated by loglinear analyses. Results: Our study showed that all degrees of aggressiveness (low, moderate, high), which are exhibited in different types of aggressive behaviour, were linked to an increased risk of self-injurious behaviour. No correlation was found, however, between overt aggressive behaviour and suicidal behaviour. Only in the subgroup of depressive disorders did we establish that the risk of aggressive behaviour was decreased and the risk of suicidal behaviour was increased at the time of admission. Conclusions: The strong relationship between aggressive behaviour and self-injurious behaviour has previously been described in specific diagnostic subgroups, but not yet in a heterogeneous population of psychiatric in-patients from a defined catchment area. We, therefore, conclude that the link between aggressive and self-injurious behaviour could be a general one. Exhibiting aggressive behaviour and self-injurious behaviour within a short time span may be the result of an increased or disinhibited aggressive potential, which is independent of a specific diagnosis. As such, it possibly represents the general consequence of a highly altered state of mind and does not seem to be linked to a specific diagnostic subgroup. In psychiatric emergency situations, the previously described close relationship between aggressive and self-injurious behaviour should be taken into account.