Emotion traits in older suicide attempters and non-attempters

Background: Emotion is a flourishing area of cross-disciplinary research th at can inform traditional approaches to psychopathology. The present study examines emotion traits associated with attempted suicide in a depressed ol der sample. Methods: Seven emotion traits were compared in depressed inpati ents, age 50 years or older, who either had made a suicide attempt after ag e 50 (n = 47) or had never made a suicide attempt (n = 38) as assessed by s elf-report and a review of available medical records. Results: In univariat e analyses controlled for age and sex, late-life suicide attempters were lo wer in Warmth and Positive Emotions than non-attempters. However, only lowe r Anxiety was associated with attempter status when all seven emotion trait s were included as predictors. Of the attempters, those who had made a grea ter number of attempts reported lower Positive Emotions and higher Anger/Ho stility and Guilt, though only lower Positive Emotions had a significant ef fect independent of the other emotions. In a subsample of 41 patients whose index admission was precipitated by an attempt, lower Anger/Hostility was associated with higher intent to die, and lower Anger/Hostility and lower G uilt was associated with higher lethality of method, Limitations: The asses sments of emotion traits may have been colored by transient moods, includin g, for the recent attempters, moods associated with the aftermath of their attempt. Participants who completed the key measures may not be representat ive of older attempters. Conclusions: Emotion traits are associated with su icidal behavior in older depressed patients, and the specific type of emoti on and the direction of its association depends on the specific suicide var iable examined. Emotion traits may be helpful in assessing suicide risk. (C ) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.