ARE SOME MOTIVES MORE LINKED TO SUICIDE PRONENESS THAN OTHERS

This research examines the importance of assessing motivations that cr isis patients attribute for considering a suicide attempt. For 251 con secutive patients attending a crisis unit, suicide attempters and idea tors indicated agreement with each of 14 reasons for attempting suicid e. Principal components analysis of these agreement ratings yielded tw o factor scales of motives: Extrapunitive/Manipulative Reasons and Int ernal Perturbations. Scores for internal perturbations correlated sign ificantly with patients' wishes to die, clinicians' ratings oi patient s' suicidal desire and preparation for suicide, and clinicians' overal l evaluation of patients' suicidal risk. Associations between internal perturbations and these suicide measures were nonredundant with hopel essness. It is concluded that evaluating a suicidal person's internal reasons for attempting suicide has unique assessment value. (C) 1998 J ohn Wiley & Sons. Inc.