A Mediation Analysis of Childhood Maltreatment and Suicidal Behavior among Patients with Depressive or Bipolar Disorders

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S85-S85
Author(s):  
K. Aaltonen ◽  
T. Rosenström ◽  
I. Baryshnikov ◽  
B. Karpov ◽  
T. Melartin ◽  
...  

IntroductionSubstantial evidence supports association between childhood maltreatment and suicidal behaviour, however, a limited number of studies have examined psychological mechanisms mediating the relationship among patients with mood disorders.ObjectiveTo investigate directly the potential intermediating mechanisms between childhood maltreatment and suicidal behaviour among patients with mood disorders.AimsWe examine by formal mediation analyses, if:– the effect of childhood maltreatment on suicidal behaviour is mediated through borderline personality disorder traits;– the mediation effect differs between lifetime suicidal ideation and lifetime suicide attempts.MethodsDepressive disorder and bipolar disorder (ICD-10-DCR) patients (n = 287) from the Helsinki university psychiatric consortium (HUPC) Study were surveyed on self-reported childhood experiences, current depressive symptoms, borderline personality disorder traits and lifetime suicidal behaviour. Psychiatric records served to complement the information on suicide attempts.ResultsThe influence of childhood maltreatment on lifetime suicidal ideation and lifetime suicide attempts showed comparable total effects. In formal mediation analyses, borderline personality disorder traits mediated all of the total effect of childhood maltreatment on lifetime suicide attempts, but only 21% of the total effect on lifetime suicide ideation. The mediation effect was stronger for lifetime suicide attempts compared to ideation (P = 0.002) and independent of current depressive symptoms.ConclusionsThe mechanisms of the effect of childhood maltreatment on suicidal ideation and attempts may diverge among psychiatric patients with mood disorders. Borderline personality disorder traits may contribute to these mechanisms, although the influence appears considerably stronger for suicide attempts than for suicide ideation.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 53-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.I. Aaltonen ◽  
T. Rosenström ◽  
I. Baryshnikov ◽  
B. Karpov ◽  
T. Melartin ◽  
...  

AbstractBackground:Substantial evidence supports an association between childhood maltreatment and suicidal behaviour. However, few studies have examined factors mediating this relationship among patients with unipolar or bipolar mood disorders.Methods:Depressive disorder and bipolar disorder (ICD-10-DCR) patients (n = 287) from the Helsinki University Psychiatric Consortium (HUPC) Study were surveyed on self-reported childhood experiences, current depressive symptoms, borderline personality disorder traits, and lifetime suicidal behaviour. Psychiatric records served to complement the information on suicide attempts. We examined by formal mediation analyses whether (1) the effect of childhood maltreatment on suicidal behaviour is mediated through borderline personality disorder traits and (2) the mediation effect differs between lifetime suicidal ideation and lifetime suicide attempts.Results:The impact of childhood maltreatment in multivariate models on either lifetime suicidal ideation or lifetime suicide attempts showed comparable total effects. In formal mediation analyses, borderline personality disorder traits mediated all of the total effect of childhood maltreatment on lifetime suicide attempts, but only one fifth of the total effect on lifetime suicidal ideation. The mediation effect was stronger for lifetime suicide attempts than for lifetime suicidal ideation (P = 0.002) and independent of current depressive symptoms.Conclusions:The mechanisms of the effect of childhood maltreatment on suicidal ideation versus suicide attempts may diverge among psychiatric patients with mood disorders. Borderline personality disorder traits may contribute to these mechanisms, although the influence appears considerably stronger for suicide attempts than for suicidal ideation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Allen ◽  
Michael Hallquist ◽  
Aidan G.C. Wright ◽  
Alexandre Dombrovski

Importance: Clinicians treating borderline personality disorder (BPD) are often faced with the difficult challenge of assessing when, and for whom, risk for suicide is greatest. Addressing this dilemma requires longitudinal, prospective data from high-risk samples with an elevated base rate of suicide attempts.Objective: To test whether dispositional characteristics modulate the pathway from interpersonal dysfunction to suicide in BPD. Design: This longitudinal, observational study was conducted between 1990 and 2020. Data were analyzed between April and July 2020. Participants were assessed annually for up to 30 years (mean number of follow-ups = 7.82). Setting: Participants were recruited from inpatient, outpatient, and community referral sources.Participants: 458 individuals (Mean age = 28.59, 77% female) diagnosed with BPD.Main Outcomes and Measures: Presence or absence of a suicide attempt within one year of each follow-up assessment. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to 1) examine longitudinal, within-person transitions from interpersonal dysfunction to suicidal ideation to suicide attempts (i.e., the [I]nterpersonal-[I]deation-[A]ttempt pathway); and 2) evaluate whether two maladaptive personality dimensions, negative affect and disinhibition, moderated these transitions.Results: At the within-person level, there was support for the I-I-A pathway: suicidal ideation accounted for the association between interpersonal dysfunction and suicide attempts. Personality further moderated each component of the I-I-A pathway: negative affect was associated with a stronger coupling between interpersonal dysfunction and ideation; and disinhibition was associated with a stronger coupling between ideation and attempts. Conclusions and Relevance: The escalation from interpersonal difficulties to a suicidal crisis in BPD involves two psychologically distinct process. An internalizing process links interpersonal dysfunction to suicidal ideation and is facilitated by trait negative. An additional externalizing process links suicidal ideation to suicide attempts, and is facilitated by trait disinhibition. Assessment of these intra- and interindividual risk factors may inform clinical decisions about when, and for whom, crisis intervention is necessary.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S711-S711
Author(s):  
M. Bonea ◽  
I. Miclutia

IntroductionThe core features of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), such as deliberate self-harm, suicide attempts and demandingness in interpersonal relationships persist with age, even though impulsivity decreases. Impairing progressive disease combined with affective instability and chronic feelings of emptiness can lead to a desire for death.ObjectivesTo present a case of BPD with severe chronic endocrine pathology and liver cirrhosis who refused to take his treatment as prescribed.MethodsA case report is presented and discussed.ResultsWe report the case of a 61-year-old man with BPD and liver cirrhosis, complex endocrine pathology (pituitary adenoma, diabetes insipidus and primary hypothyroidism), type 2 diabetes mellitus with insulin therapy, essential hypertension and alcohol use disorder. He had a history of 5 suicide attempts caused by marked feelings of rejection and emptiness and a pattern of unstable relationships and lack of commitment, thus his marriage lasted only 2 years. He idealized and was extremely familiar with his clinician and displayed marked affective instability (dysphoria, periods of anger and despair, affective ambivalence towards his parents and recurrent depressive symptoms). Because of his liver disease, the psychotropic medication was ceased by his physician. The patient refused to follow the rest of his treatment plan and diet as prescribed, resulting in the deterioration of his somatic status. The patient denied an active suicidal ideation, but did not explain his non-compliance.ConclusionThe impairment from BPD and the risk of suicide persist even in older age affecting the outcome of co-morbid somatic conditions.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2022 ◽  
pp. 216770262110566
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Allen ◽  
Michael N. Hallquist ◽  
Aidan G. C. Wright ◽  
Alexandre Y. Dombrovski

In this longitudinal study, we examined whether personality traits moderate the link between interpersonal dysfunction and suicidal behavior in a high-risk sample of 458 individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Participants were assessed annually for up to 30 years (mean number of follow-ups = 7.82). Using multilevel structural equation modeling, we examined (a) longitudinal, within-persons relationships among interpersonal dysfunction, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts and (b) moderation of these relationships by negative affectivity and disinhibition. Negative affectivity predicted a stronger within-persons coupling between interpersonal dysfunction and suicidal ideation. Disinhibition predicted a stronger coupling between ideation and suicide attempts. Assessing negative affectivity and disinhibition in a treatment setting may guide clinician vigilance toward people at highest risk for interpersonally triggered suicidal behaviors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Schultebraucks ◽  
Moritz Duesenberg ◽  
Martina Di Simplicio ◽  
Emily A. Holmes ◽  
Stefan Roepke

A better understanding of suicidal behavior is important to detect suicidality in at-risk populations such as patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and major depressive disorder (MDD). Suicidal tendencies are clinically assessed by verbal thoughts rather than by specifically asking about mental images. This study examines whether imagery and verbal thoughts about suicide occur and differ between patients with BPD with and without comorbid PTSD compared to patients with MDD (clinical controls). All patient groups experienced suicide-related images. Patients with BPD with comorbid PTSD reported significantly more vivid images than patients with MDD. Severity of suicidal ideation, number of previous suicide attempts, and childhood traumata were significantly associated with suicidal imagery across all patient groups. The authors demonstrate for the first time that suicide-related mental imagery occurs in BPD and is associated with suicidal ideation. This finding highlights the importance of assessing mental imagery related to suicide in clinical practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Daniela Marchetti ◽  
Pasquale Musso ◽  
Maria Cristina Verrocchio ◽  
Giovanna Manna ◽  
Daniel C. Kopala-Sibley ◽  
...  

Abstract Adverse childhood experiences are significant risk factors in the development of adolescent borderline personality disorder symptoms (BPDs). Theorists have posited that two personality vulnerabilities factors, self-criticism and dependency, may inform our understanding of this relationship. However, no research has examined the associations between early negative experiences, personality vulnerabilities, and adolescent BPDs. The current study aimed to identify profiles of dependency and self-criticism to examine the associations of these profiles with cumulative forms of childhood maltreatment (CM) and BPDs as well as to explore the mediating and moderating role of vulnerable personality profiles in the relationship between cumulative CM and BPDs. Two hundred and forty-one nonclinical and clinical adolescents participated in the study (Mage = 16.37, SD = 1.84). The findings indicated three different profiles: average dependent profile, dependent and self-critical profile, and self-critical profile. Individuals in the average dependent profile presented lower levels of CM and BPDs. Mediation analyses showed that relative to the average dependent profile, a higher cumulative CM history predicted a higher probability of belonging in the dependent and self-critical profile or the self-critical profile and, in turn, this was associated with higher levels of BPDs. No moderating effects of profiles of dependency and self-criticism were found.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document