Personality traits and suicidal behavior and ideation in depressed inpatients 50 years of age and older

Completed suicide may be the most preventable lethal complication of depres sive disorders in older adults. Identification of risk factors for suicidal behavior has therefore become a major public health priority. Using data c ollected on 81 depressed patients 50 years of age and older, we report anal yses designed to determine the associations between the personality traits that constitute the Five Factor Model of personality and measures of suicid al behavior and ideation. We hypothesized that low Extraversion would be as sociated with a lifetime history of attempted suicide, and high Neuroticism would be associated with suicidal Ideation. Results were generally consist ent with the hypotheses. We also observed a relationship between Openness t o Experience and suicidal ideation. These findings suggest that longstandin g patterns of behaving, thinking, and feeling contribute to suicidal behavi or and thoughts in older adults and highlight the need to consider personal ity traits in crafting and targeting prevention strategies.