Temperament in suicide attempt: a mediator role of cortisol

Abstract

Objective: Cortisol may be possibly interrelated with a vulnerability to suicidal behavior that can be defined in terms of temperamental features. The aim of present study was to investigate the temperamental features in psychiatric patient population with or without suicide attempt and their blood cortisol levels. Methods: Fifty suicide attempters and 50 psychiatric outpatients without suicide attempt were recruited from consecutive admission and evaluated when euthymic. Temperaments were evaluated with Turkish version of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire. Psychiatric diagnoses were evaluated interview with patient by SCID-I for DSM-IV. We compared the temperamental features and blood cortisol levels between psychiatric patients with and without suicide attempt. Results: Patients with suicide attempt were shown to have depressive, cyclothymic and anxious temperament. Lower cortisol levels were significant for women. In patients with suicide attempt basale cortisol levels coreleted with depressive and anxious temperament. Conclusions: These findings suggest that affective temperaments have significant clinical implications and importance for suicide attempt. Blood cortisol seems to be a mediator biological factor in the interplay of temperament and suicidal behavior. (Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry 2010; 11:293-298)