Temperaments in completed suicides: Are they different from those in suicide attempters and controls?

BACKGROUND: Temperaments in completed suicides have never been assessed whereas there is substantial research on temperaments in attempted suicides and psychiatric patients.

METHODS: The significant others of 18 completed suicides participated in this study in order to provide an assessment of temperaments, hopelessness, depression and the suicide risk of their loved ones. The data were compared with data from 244 psychiatric patients of whom 83 had attempted suicide in the previous month. The following instruments were used: the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-auto questionnaire (TEMPS-A), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Gotland Scale for Male Depression (GSMD), and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) module for assessing suicide risk.

RESULTS: Individuals who died by suicide more frequently had scores of 9 or higher on the BHS and higher MINI suicide risk scores compared with patients with mood disorders who had not attempted suicide in the previous month. Completed suicides also had lower scores on the TEMPS-A Cyclothymia and Anxiety scales and on the MINI suicide risk scale than mood disorder patients with a recent suicide attempt.

LIMITATIONS: Proxy assessment of variables through survivors can result in underestimation of psychiatric morbidity and other parameters investigated, and limits the generalization of our results

CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds information about temperamental subtypes and other variables in completed suicides and points to their difference from attempted suicides and non-suicidal psychiatric patients.