title: Temperaments in completed suicides: Are they different from those in suicide attempters and controls?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Temperaments in completed suicides have never been assessed whereas there is substantial research on temperaments in attempted suicides and psychiatric patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The significant others of 18 completed suicides participated in this study in order to provide an assessment of temperaments, hopelessness, depression and the suicide risk of their loved ones. The data were compared with data from 244 psychiatric patients of whom 83 had attempted suicide in the previous month. The following instruments were used: the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-auto questionnaire (TEMPS-A), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Gotland Scale for Male Depression (GSMD), and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) module for assessing suicide risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals who died by suicide more frequently had scores of 9 or higher on the BHS and higher MINI suicide risk scores compared with patients with mood disorders who had not attempted suicide in the previous month. Completed suicides also had lower scores on the TEMPS-A Cyclothymia and Anxiety scales and on the MINI suicide risk scale than mood disorder patients with a recent suicide attempt.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Proxy assessment of variables through survivors can result in underestimation of psychiatric morbidity and other parameters investigated, and limits the generalization of our results
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study adds information about temperamental subtypes and other variables in completed suicides and points to their difference from attempted suicides and non-suicidal psychiatric patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: maurizio.pompili@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pompili
authors.affiliation: Università Europea di Roma, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Innamorati
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariantonietta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Battuello
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Erbuto
authors.affiliation: Stockton University, Galloway, NJ.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Theoretical Mental Health, Kútvölgyi Clinical Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Laboratory of Suicide Prevention and Research, National Institute for Psychiatry and Addictology, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; MTA-SE Neurochemistry Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Xenia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gonda
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Theoretical Mental Health, Kútvölgyi Clinical Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rihmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genova, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amore
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*; D013694:Temperament