Affiliation:
1. Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at the Department of Psychological Medicine, Changi General Hospital and Clinical Assistant Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
2. Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Department of Psychological Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Clinical Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School, and Clinical Senior Lecturer at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Abstract
Introduction: Inpatients with self-harm behavior utilize a high proportion of health care resources, and determining their suicide risk may be challenging. This study examines how maladaptive personality traits in people who self-harm are associated with suicide intent severity. Methods: This was a 5-month cross-sectional study. The International Personality Disorders Examination (IPDE) ICD-10 questionnaire, Beck's Suicide Intent Scale (SIS), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) 21 were administered. Sociodemographic and clinical data were recorded with STATA version 10.1 for statistical analyses. Results: Thirty-seven out of 40 (92.50%) inpatients participated in this study. About two-thirds (n = 24, 64.86%) were first-time self-harmers, with self-poisoning (n = 33, 89.19%) being the most common method. About two-thirds (n = 24, 64.86%) had low to moderate suicide intent. The most common diagnosis was adjustment disorder (n = 21, 56.76%). Around one-third had at least severe ratings for depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. All screened positive for at least one class of maladaptive personality traits, with the majority (n = 33, 89.19%) having more than one class of maladaptive personality traits. The three most prevalent classes of maladaptive personality traits were anankastic (n = 28, 75.68%), schizoid (n = 25, 67.57%), and paranoid (n = 23, 62.16%). Only dissocial traits were positively correlated with suicide intent severity (regression coefficient = 1.37, p = .017) following adjustment for the most important confounder, DASS 21. Discussion: Maladaptive personality traits were common in inpatients with self-harm behavior, with dissocial traits being positively correlated with suicide intent severity. This finding may inform suicide prevention strategies for patients who self-harm.