STRESS, COPING, AND SUICIDE RISK IN PSYCHIATRIC-INPATIENTS

The present study investigated the relationship between interpersonal problems, coping styles, and suicide risk. Seventy-one adult psychiatr ic inpatients completed a suicide risk scale, a measure of interperson al problems, and a coping scale designed to measure eight coping style s. Patients admitted with a history of suicidal attempts were compared with patients admitted for other reasons. Interpersonal problems were found to be significantly and positively related to suicide risk. The coping style of ''suppression'' (tendency to avoid threatening or unc omfortable situations) was found to be significantly and positively re lated to suicide risk [F(2, 68) = 4.54, p < .01]. Several other coping styles were found to be significantly related to suicide risk. These findings are congruent with a ''two-stage model of countervailing forc es'' and have both research and clinical implications.