Dimensions of psychopathy in relation to suicidal and self-injurious behavior.
Externalizing psychopathology is associated with an increased risk for suicidal behavior. Within the externalizing domain, psychopathy may be an important construct for the understanding of which individuals are at particularly high risk. However, prior studies of psychopathy and suicidal behavior have not distinguished between suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior (NSIB). The present study used data on 810 civil psychiatric patients from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Project to examine the relationships between scores on the four dimensions of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV) and suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior (NSIB). Results indicate that only the antisocial dimension of psychopathy is associated with suicide attempts. With regard to NSIB, an interaction was found such that, among African-Americans, NSIB was more prevalent at higher levels of antisociality. Present findings refine previous results from studies using the two-factor PCL:SV model and have important implications for the assessment of suicide risk.
Swogger
Marc T
MT
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. marc_swogger@urmc.rochester.edu
Conner
Kenneth R
KR
Meldrum
Sean C
SC
Caine
Eric D
ED
D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult