ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MULTIPLE SUICIDE ATTEMPTS AND NEGATIVE AFFECTS INADOLESCENTS

Objective: To compare the level of negative emotions-anxiety, depressi on, aggression, and impulsivity-in hospitalized adolescents with a his tory of either a single or multiple suicide attempts, Method: Thirty-t wo adolescents hospitalized for a first suicide attempt, 19 hospitaliz ed for a repeated attempt (fifth or more), 109 nonsuicidal psychiatric inpatients, and 85 community controls were assessed for level of depr ession, anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity with the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety inventory the Multidimensional Ange r Inventory, and the Suicide Potential Scale. Results: Both suicidal g roups demonstrated higher levels of most of the negative emotions than both the normal controls and the nonsuicidal inpatients. When the fir st attempters were compared with the multiple attempters, similarly hi gh levels were noted far most dimensions of anxiety and depression. A trend toward increased aggression was noted among the multiple suicide attempters on all parameters evaluated. same of these differences wer e significant. Conclusion: In already highly anxious and depressed sui cidal inpatients, a high level of aggression might significantly incre ase the risk of recidivism.