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A Controlled Study of Suicide in Middle‐Aged and Older People: Personality Traits, Age, and Psychiatric Disorders
Author(s) -
Draper Brian,
Kõlves Kairi,
Leo Diego,
Snowdon John
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/sltb.12053
Subject(s) - neuroticism , extraversion and introversion , big five personality traits , openness to experience , agreeableness , psychiatry , personality , psychology , clinical psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , social psychology
Personality traits were examined using the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory–Revised in an A ustralian psychological autopsy study involving 259 suicide deaths and 181 sudden death controls aged 35 years and over. Interviews included the S tructured C linical I nterview for DSM ‐ IV to determine the presence of psychiatric disorder. Personality traits of suicide deaths differed significantly from those of controls, scoring higher in the N euroticism and O penness to E xperience domains and lower on the A greeableness and E xtraversion domains. These findings varied with the presence of psychiatric disorder and by age. High N euroticism scores were the most consistent finding in people who died by suicide, although these scores decreased in older suicides.