Journal of Emergency Practice and Trauma

Relationship between temperament and character personality dimensions among suicide attempters in an Iranian population

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ali Reza Shafiee-Kandjani 1
Shahrokh Amiri 2
Nima Sarihi 2
Elham Hossein 3
Salman Safikhanlou 4
Mohsen Jafarzadeh-Ghareziaaddin 4

1 Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

2 Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

3 Department of Internal Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran

4 Clinical Psychologist, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.15171/jept.2019.26
Abstract
Objective: Two temperamental components that are mostly associated with suicide are high novelty seeking (NS) and high harm avoidance (HA). This study aimed to evaluate the temperament and character personality dimensions of self-poisoning in suicidal attempters in an Iranian population.
Methods: A descriptive-analytic study was conducted with random sampling in which 77 self-poisoning patients and equal normal counterparts were selected. Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and clinical interview were used as study procedures. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 18 using chi-square, Mann-Whitney U and regression. P values<0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: Findings showed that people attempting suicide were significantly different from general population in terms of character and temperament. NS and HA yielded high scores in the suicide group, while reward dependence (RD), self-directedness (SD), cooperativeness (CO) and self-transcendence (ST) variables revealed significantly higher scores in the healthy group. No significant difference was observed among suicide attempters in terms of gender.
Conclusion: The results confirm the difference between non-suicidal individuals and suicide attempters in terms of character and temperament in a way that suicidal patients have high harm-avoidance and introversion. In addition, the history of attempts and early alcohol consumption might be considered as suicide re-attempt predictors.

Keywords

Character
Temperament
Suicide
Personality
1. Fleischmann A, De Leo D. The World Health Organization’s report on suicide: a fundamental step in worldwide suicide prevention. Crisis 2014; 35(5): 289-91. doi: 10.1027/0227- 5910/a000293.
2. Shakeri J, Parvizifard AA, Sadeghi K, Moradi R. Personality Traits, Stress, Coping and Religious Attitudes among Individuals Attempting Suicide. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology 2006; 12 (3): 244-50. [In Persian]. 3. Hawton K, Linsell L, Adeniji T, Sariaslan A, Fazel S. Selfharm in prisons in England and Wales: an epidemiological study of prevalence, risk factors, clustering, and subsequent suicide. Lancet 2014; 383(9923): 1147-54. doi: 10.1016/ s0140-6736(13)62118-2.
4. Foster T, Gillespie K, McClelland R. Mental disorders and suicide in Northern Ireland. Br J Psychiatry 1997; 170: 447- 52. doi: 10.1192/bjp.170.5.447.
5. Camarena B, Fresán A, Sarmiento E. Exploring personality features in patients with affective disorders and history of suicide attempts: a comparative study with their parents and control subjects. Depress Res Treat 2014; 2014: 291802. doi: 10.1155/2014/291802.
6. Pienaar J, Rothmann S, van de Vijver FJR. Occupational stress, personality traits, coping strategies, and suicide ideation in the South African Police Service. Crim Justice Behav 2007; 34(2): 246-58. doi: 10.1177/0093854806288708. 7. Mihandoost Z. A meta-analysis of suicide rates in male and in female suicide in Iran. Educ Sci Psychol 2013; 26(4): 12- 21.
8. Cloninger CR, Przybeck TR, Svrakic DM, Wetzel RD. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI): A guide to its development and use. St. Louis, MO: Center for Psychobiology and Personality, Washington University; 1994.
9. Shafiee-Kandjani AR, Amiri S, Arfaie A, Ahmadi A, Farvareshi M. Relationship between personality profiles and suicide attempt via medicine poisoning among hospitalized patients: a case-control study. Int Sch Res Notices 2014; 2014: 675480. doi: 10.1155/2014/675480.
10. Arkar H. Relationship between Attempted Suicide and Cloninger’s Personality Dimensions of Temperament and Character in Turkish Psychiatric Patients. New/Yeni Symposium Journal 2010: 48(2): 110-5.
11. Woo YS, Jun TY, Jeon YH, Song HR, Kim TS, Kim JB, et al. Relationship of temperament and character in remitted depressed patients with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts--results from the CRESCEND study. PLoS One 2014; 9(10): e105860. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105860.
12. Seo HJ, Jung YE, Jeong S, Kim JB, Lee MS, Kim JM, et al. Personality traits associated with suicidal behaviors in patients with depression: the CRESCEND study. Compr Psychiatry 2014; 55(5): 1085-92. doi: 10.1016/j. comppsych.2014.03.014.
13. Kaviani H, Poor Naseh M. Validation of temperament and character inventory (TCI) in Iranian sample: normative data. Tehran University Medical Journal 2005: 63(2): 89-98. [In Persian].
14. Hooman A. Standardization of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) among undergraduate students of Tarbiyat Moallem University. Tehran, Iran: Research Institute of Tarbiyat Moallem University; 1997. [In Persian].
15. Sharif F, Parsnia A, Mani A, Vosoghi M, Setoodeh G. Comparison of personality traits, coping styles, and psychiatric disorders in adult suicidal and non-suicidal individuals. Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery 2014; 2(3): 148-56.
16. Kyung-Sook W, SangSoo S, Sangjin S, Young-Jeon S. Marital status integration and suicide: a meta-analysis and metaregression. Soc Sci Med 2018; 197: 116-26. doi: 10.1016/j. socscimed.2017.11.053.
Journal of Emergency Practice and Trauma
Volume 6, Issue 1
January 2020
Pages 33-37

  • Receive Date 16 November 2019
  • Revise Date 14 December 2019
  • Accept Date 16 December 2019

Home

Editor-in-Chief: Shahrad Tajoddini, MD

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us

Editorial board