Psychosocial risk factors associated with suicide attempts and violence among psychiatric inpatients.

OBJECTIVES

To better understand the relationship between suicidal behavior and violence directed toward others among patients with major psychiatric disorders, this study examined how suicide attempts and violent behaviors were associated with various psychosocial problems.

METHODS

Participants were inpatients in two psychiatric state hospitals. They included 216 inpatients who had physically assaulted another patient or a staff member and a comparison group of 81 inpatients who had not assaulted anyone. History of suicide attempts and historical information about various risk factors for violence and suicide were obtained through chart review and patient interviews.

RESULTS

Patients in the violent group did not differ from those in the nonviolent group in whether they had attempted suicide. Suicide attempts and violence were associated with different historical variables. Suicide attempts were associated with a history of head trauma, harsh parental discipline, and parental psychopathology. Violence against others was associated with having a history of school truancy and foster home placement.

CONCLUSIONS

Among inpatients with major psychiatric disorders, violence and suicide attempts were not related to each other and were associated with dissimilar psychosocial risk factors.