The relationship between mood disorders, personality disorder and suicidality in adolescence: does general personality disturbance play a significant role in predicting suicidal behavior?
Riccardo Williams1*, Marco Chiesa2
Abstract
Introduction Current research points to the importance personality pathology and Major Depression e as
relevant
psycopathological risk factors for understanding suicidal risk in adolescence. Literature has mainly focused on the
role
of BPD, however current orientations in personality pathological functioning suggest that BPD may be the
representative
of a general personality disturbance, a factor of vulnerability underlying diverse psychopathological
variants and aspects of maladaptive functioning. However, recent studies seem to have neglected the contributions
that other specific personality disorders and personality pathology as a general factor of vulnerability for
suicidality;
and only marginally investigated the interaction of personality disorder (PD) as an overall diagnosis and individual
PDs
and major depression (MDD).
In this paper, the independent and cumulative effects of MDD and DSM-IV PDs on suicidal risk are investigated in a sample of adolescents observed in a longitudinal window of observation ranging from three months preceding the assessment to a six-month follow up period of clinical monitoring.
Methods A sample of 118 adolescents (mean age = 15.48 ± 1.14) referred for assessment and treatment on account of suicidal ideation or behavior were administered the CSSRS, SCID II, Kiddie-SADS at admission at inpatient and outpatient Units. All subjects included in the study had reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts at the C-SSRS; The CSSRS was applied again to all patients who reported further suicidal episodes during the six-months follow-up period of clinical monitoring. Dimensional diagnoses of PDs was obtained by summing the number of criteria met by each subject at SCID-%-PD 5, In order, to test the significance of the associations between the variables chosen as predictors (categorical and dimensional PDs and MD diagnosis), and the suicidal outcomes variables suicide attempts, number of suicide attempts and potential lethality of suicide attempt, non-parametric bivariate correlations, logistic regression models and mixed-effects Poisson regression were performed PD.
Results The categorical and dimensional diagnosis of PD showed to be a significant risk factors for suicide attempt and their recurrence, independently of BPD, that anyway was confirmed to be a specific significant risk factor
NON-2024-1478