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Dubstein PR Et Al
Dubstein PR Et Al
P18
PERSONALITY AND SUICIDE P19
information to predict specific behaviors in certain circum- Manton, 1986; Moscicki, 1989), but the risk of completed
stances. Block (1995) generally accepts the premises upon suicide increases (CDC, 1999). Following the logic of the cate-
which FFM research is based, though he is somewhat critical of gorical model, we examined the direction and strength of asso-
the "arbitrariness" (p. 189) of factor analysis and the over- ciations between each of the personality traits that constitute the
reliance on self- and peer-report data. He also raises a number FFM and specific variables related to (a) suicide attempts and
of technical concerns, such as the high intercorrelations among (b) suicidal ideation.
the ostensibly uncorrelated five factors. Still, the FFM has with-
stood criticism from those who share, and do not share, its basic The Present Study: Overview and Hypotheses
assumptions (Costa & McCrae, 1995; McCrae & Costa, 1997), The preceding sections point to the need for a study that
and it has proven useful in research on health outcomes in older measures a range of personality traits and distinguishes among
choosing 50 as the lower age limit for study entry, we are able Eleven patients (14.2%) had psychotic features. Slightly more
to control for affective disorder without excluding a large por- than half (n = 44; 54.4%) had at least one additional Axis I diag-
tion of people at risk for completed suicide. nosis. The most common comorbid Axis I diagnosis was alco-
The study was conducted at four teaching hospitals in the hol or substance abuse or dependence in full remission (n = 21,
northeastern United States (Rochester, NY), including two 25.9%). Dysthymia was present in about 12% of the sample (n
community hospitals, one tertiary care facility, and one aca- = \ 0). Somatoform disorders (n = 8), active alcohol/substance
demic medical center. Acknowledging that there are problems disorders (n — 8), panic disorder (« = 7), and phobias (n = 7)
inherent in any definition of "suicide attempt" (Beck & were each present in slightly less than 10% of the sample. Scores
Greenberg, 1971; O'Carroll et al., 1996), attempted suicide was on the Beck Hopelessness Scale (Beck, Weissman, Lester, &
defined as an intentional self-destructive act; an expressed wish Trexler, 1974) were elevated (M = 12.4, SD = 5.7), consistent
to die was not necessary.
attempts if participants labeled the behavior as a suicide attempt validity in this group of older inpatients with major depression,
even if they disavowed an expressed intention to die. Previous some members of the research team assessed psychiatric inpa-
psychiatric and medical charts were reviewed in an effort to tients while others independently interviewed family infor-
gather additional data on the number of suicide attempts. mants (n = 26 pairs). Kappa coefficients for the diagnoses of
Discrepancies between the number of self-reported suicide at- any substance use disorder, affective disorder, and their comor-
tempts and chart-documented suicide attempts were resolved bidity ranged from 0.61 to 0.75.
by recording the higher number documented or reported.
Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE).—The MMSE measures
Scale of Suicidal Ideation (SSI).—Two outcome measures cognitive function (Folstein et al., 1975). Scores can range from
were extracted from this 19-item, observer-rated measure: (a) 0 to 30. The MMSE score is not used as an inclusion criterion;
Table 1. Unadjusted Relationship Between NEO-PI and Continuous Variables: Kendall's Tau
Continuous Variable N M SD Ne Ex Op Ag Co
Age 81 61.30 9.6 -.29*** .04 -.17* -.06 .07
Number of lifetime SA 81 0.85 1.6 .19* -.19* .04 -.04 -.15
Total SSI score 81 7.52 10.3 2g*** -.15 .11 -.04 -.14
Ne = Neuroticism; Ex = Extraversion; Op = Openness to Experience; Ag = Agreeableness; Co = Conscientiousness; SA= Suicide Attempts; SSI = Scale for
Suicidal Ideation.
*/><•05. ***p< .001.
Lifetime SA = participants with a lifetime history of at least one suicide attempt were contrasted with all others. Suicidal ideation - SSB = participants who scored
a 1 (absence of suicidal ideation or suicide attempt in the month prior to hospitalization) were contrasted with all others; Suicidal ideation - SSI = participants who
reported suicidal ideation in the week prior to interview (scored a 1 or higher on the Scale for Suicidal Ideation) were contrasted with all others; Death ideation - SSI
= participants who acknowledged that their wish to die outweighed their wish to live in the week prior to interview (scored a 1 or higher on the death ideation items
of the Scale for Suicidal Ideation) were contrasted with all others; Ne = Neuroticism; Ex = Extraversion; Op = Openness to Experience; Ag = Agreeableness: Co =
Conscientiousness. *p < .05; **p < .01 ;***/}< .001. All rf/s = 79, except where otherwise noted.
"Women scored higher than men.
h
Unequal variance (p < .05), there was greater heterogeneity among those with a lifetime SA; d/'tbr t-test = 78.
Significant
Predicted Variable Analysis Model Predictor(s) Coeff SE X:(D p value
Lifetime SA 1 Logistic Extraversion -.032 .016 4.43 .035
Number of lifetime S A (outliers removed) 2 Poisson Extraversion -.026 .007 14.06 .0002
No suicidal ideas-SSB 3 Logistic Openness -.054 .025 5.65 .02
Agreeableness +.038 .021 3.73 .05
Suicidal ideation-SSI 4 Logistic Age -.087 .038 6.38 .01
Death ideation-SSI 5 Logistic Openness +.038 .021 3.87 .05
Neuroticism +.037 .018 4.49 .02
Lifetime SA = participants with a lifetime history of at least one suicide attempt were contrasted with all others; Suicidal ideation - SSB = participants who scored
a 1 (absence of suicidal ideation or suicide attempt in the month prior to hospitalization) were contrasted with all others; Suicidal ideation - SSI = participants who
reported suicidal ideation in the week prior to interview (scored a 1 or higher on the Scale for Suicidal Ideation) were contrasted with all others; Death ideation - SSI
= participants who acknowledged that their wish to die outweighed their wish to live in the week prior to interview (scored a 1 or higher on the death ideation items
of the Scale for Suicidal Ideation) were contrasted with all others; CoetT = coefficient.
suicide attempt (Table 3, Analysis 1). The Hosmer-Lemeshow vious analysis and its association with the number of lifetime
goodness of fit was not significant, x2 (8) = 9.90, p = .27, indi- suicide attempts in the unadjusted analyses (Table 2). Next, we
cating a satisfactory fit. Next, we examined predictors of the conducted a Poisson regression to predict the number of suicide
number of previous suicide attempts using Poisson regression. attempts among those with a lifetime history of attempted sui-
Higher Neuroticism and lower Extraversion emerged as signifi- cide (n = 45; analyses not shown). No significant predictors
cant predictors; however, 4 participants were outliers. In each emerged, but there was a trend for those higher in Neuroticism
case, the predicted number of suicide attempts was lower than to make more attempts, x2 (1) = 3.17, p = .07.
the actual number. All 4 had at least two Axis I diagnoses; 3 of
the 4 had psychotic features. Concerned that the nature and in- Suicidal and Death Ideation
terpretation of our findings may have been unduly influenced Two groups were constructed from the SSB data, those who
by this relatively small group reporting numerous suicide at- reported no suicidal ideation or behavior in the past month and
tempts, we removed the outliers and conducted another Poisson those who reported suicidal ideas or made a suicide attempt.
regression. The results (Table 3, Analysis 2) partially duplicated Table 3 (Analysis 3) shows that, in a logistic regression predict-
the previous analysis. Again, Extraversion was a strong predic- ing absence of suicidal ideation, low Openness and high
tor, but Neuroticism was not, despite its significance in the pre- Agreeableness emerged as significant predictors. This contrasts
PERSONALITY AND SUICIDE P23
with the unadjusted analyses, which showed a relationship be- Although our findings are consistent with the notion that
tween Neuroticism and the SSB score (Table 2). The Hosmer- Extraversion is associated with lifetime suicide attempter status,
Lemeshow for the multiple regression was nonsignificant, \2 it is possible that other personality traits (e.g., low Openness,
(8) = 10.75, p = .22, indicating a reasonable fit. When we di- high Neuroticism) are associated with the lethality of attempts.
chotomized the SSI score (0 vs. > 0) and created two groups, This idea could be examined in a study that includes a suffi-
suicide ideators and nonideators, the logistic regression (Analy- cient sample of individuals whose suicide attempts lead to se-
sis 4) yielded one significant predictor (age), in contrast to the vere medical complications.
unadjusted analyses, which implicated Neuroticism in suicidal Second, as hypothesized, Neuroticism is associated with sui-
ideation (Table 2). We also conducted a linear regression with cidal ideation. However, whereas significant relationships
the total score on the SSI as the dependent variable. Again, only between Neuroticism and measures of suicidal ideation were
These limitations must be weighed against the study's This study uncovered the possibility that different personal-
strengths, chief of which are its public health significance and ity variables are associated with attempted suicide and suicidal
its foray into new territory. No previous study has applied a ideation, with Extraversion associated with the former and
comprehensive personality taxonomy to the study of late-life Openness more closely tied to the latter. We are not arguing for
suicidal behavior. Suicide is a major public health problem. By eliminating the severity continuum model of suicide; rather, we
attempting to identify putative risk factors for suicidal behavior, are suggesting that the categorical model has much to offer. It is
social scientists can contribute to prevention efforts by defining likely that suicide ideators, suicide attempters, and completed
groups at high risk, before the development of an acute crisis. suicides are categorically discrete groups, each characterized by
This study represents a step in that direction. Other strengths of a discrete set of risk factors, reflecting distinct underlying per-
the study include a well characterized and carefully diagnosed sonality and constituent cognitive, affective, and motivational
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