Temperament and character profile of persons with suicide attempt

Abstract

Introduction. The aim of this study was to establish the association between temperament and character personality traits with attempted suicide patients.

Method. Consecutive male and female adults subjects, between 18-65 years old, presenting a suicide attempt and hospitalized in the Psychiatric Service of Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, Jalisco (Mexico), were evaluated based on Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and compared with the Mexican normative data.

Results. A total 63 subjects, with a mean age of 28.25 ± 9.28 years old, 54 % of whom were women, were enrolled. Personality traits associated with suicide attempt in comparison with general population included: temperament: elevation in «novelty seeking» (22.9 ± 6.0 vs 20.2 ± 5.1; t = 3.30, df = 83, p = 0.01), «harm avoidance» (19.0 ± 4.8 vs 12.6 ± 7.1; t = 8.54, df = 132, p < 0.001), and «self-transcendence» (19.1± 5.6 vs 16.4 ± 6.2; t = 3.41, df = 100, p = 0.0009); and character: decrease in «self-directedness» (26.8 ± 6.2 vs 29.9 ± 10.8; t = – 3.02, df = 161, p = 0.002), and «cooperativeness» (26.0 ± 4.5 vs 28.2 ± 9.9; t = –2.59, df = 214, p = 0.01). Finally, males with suicide attempt showed higher «harm avoidance» than females (20.37 ± 5.3 vs 17.82 ± 4.1; t = –2.14, df = 61, p = 0.036).

Conclusions. Temperament traits associated with suicide attempt in the present study are related with serotoninergic and noradrenergic deregulation previously involved in the phenomena, and the sum of the character personality dimensions explains the complex relationship between biological and learned factors of suicide behavior.