Diligent for better or worse: Conscientiousness is associated with higher likelihood of suicidal behavior and more severe suicidal intent in later life.

Autor: Szücs A; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, The Netherlands; National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Singapore. Electronic address: szuecs.anna@gmail.com., Galfalvy H; Columbia University, Department of Psychiatry, USA., Alessi MG; University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Program in Health Psychology, USA., Kenneally LB; Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, USA., Valderas JM; National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Singapore., Maier AB; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, The Netherlands; National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Singapore., Szanto K; University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Comprehensive psychiatry [Compr Psychiatry] 2024 Nov; Vol. 135, pp. 152523. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 06.
DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152523
Abstrakt: Background: Contradictory findings link trait conscientiousness in mid- and late life to increased healthspan and lifespan, as well as to death by suicide. It remains unclear whether conscientiousness is associated with higher odds of attempting suicide or with more severe suicidal behavior among attempters, and whether its relationship to suicide risk varies with aging-related stressors, such as declining health.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study comprising 313 depressed adults aged ≥40 years and participating in the Longitudinal Research Program in Late-Life Suicide (Pittsburgh, USA), we employed logistic and linear regression to test whether conscientiousness was associated with the presence of recent suicidal behavior (≤2 years) and with intent severity in recent attempters (n = 84). We further tested whether the above relationships varied based on mental, cognitive, and physical health status, measured as depression severity, cognitive functioning, and the presence/absence of severe physical illness.
Results: Participants were 62.1 years old on average (SD = 7.6), 85% White, and 53% female. Recent attempters had a mean age of 61.8 years at their most recent attempt (SD = 8.5), had lower cognitive functioning and were more likely severely physically ill than comparisons. Conscientiousness was positively associated with a higher likelihood of recent suicidal behavior overall (adjusted OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.90, p = .010), but not in case of co-occurring severe physical illness (interaction OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.30, 0.97, p = .039). Conscientiousness was also positively associated with suicidal intent at the most recent attempt (adjusted β = 1.60, SE = 0.62, p = .012), explaining 7% of its variance, although this association lost significance after adjusting for other personality dimensions.
Conclusions: Highly conscientious middle-aged and older adults may be at increased risk of resolute suicidal behavior, although conscientiousness may not confer additional suicide risk among those severely physically ill.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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