Correlates of suicide and violence risk in an inpatient population: Coping styles and social support

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 281 - 290
• Main Authors: Kotler, Moshe, Finkelstein, Graciela, Molcho, Avi, Botsis, Alexander J., Plutchik, Robert, Brown, Serena-Lynn, van Praag, Herman M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.06.1993; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; aggression; Anger; Biological and medical sciences; Defense Mechanisms; depression; Female; Hospitalization; Humans; Impulsive Behavior - diagnosis; Impulsive Behavior - psychology; Impulsivity; Internal-External Control; Male; Medical sciences; psychiatric inpatients; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Social Support; Suicide; Suicide - prevention & control; Suicide - psychology; Suicide, Attempted - prevention & control; Suicide, Attempted - psychology; Violence; Impulsivity; depression; aggression; psychiatric inpatients; Anger; Human; Risk factor; Mental disorder; Strategy; Coping; Suicide ideation; Social behavior disorder; Social support; Suicide attempt
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/0165-1781(93)90085-U

Forty-six suicidal psychiatric inpatients were compared with 44 nonsuicidal psychiatric inpatients on measures of suicide risk, violence risk, impulsivity, feelings of anger, social support, and eight coping styles. The two groups were similar on demographic variables, but the suicidal patients were higher on the suicide risk scale, the violence risk scale, the impulsivity scale, and feelings of anger. Suicidal patients were significantly less likely to use the coping style of minimization to deal with life problems. A negative correlation was found between the social support measure and both suicide risk and violence risk. Three coping styles were found to correlate negatively with violence risk, but none with suicide risk. Coping styles were found to be a better predictor of violence risk than of suicide risk. It was also found that the more variables included in the predictor equation, the higher the correlation with the risk measures.