Temperamental vulnerability in attempted suicide.

The aim of this study was to explore and describe features of suicidal temperament and to describe the psychological domains of vulnerability in attempted suicide. Thirty-two suicide attempters were compared with 32 sex- and age-matched convalescent surgical controls on self-report personality inventories; the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Chapman Scales, the Beck Hopelessnes Scale and the Karolinska Scales of Personality. Suicide attempters showed higher scale scores on neuroticism, psychoticism, interpersonal aversiveness, perceptual aberration, nonconformity, hopelessness, somatic anxiety, muscular tension, indirect aggression, suspicion and lower socialization. The features of suicidal temperament include hopelessness and anhedonia, anxiety, hostility and undirected anger expression, psychosis proneness, antisocial traits and interpersonal difficulties. These temperamental features might render the suicidal individual particularly vulnerable to suicidal behavior.