Alexithymia and low cooperativeness are associated with suicide attempts in male military personnel with adjustment disorder: A case-control study

Subpopulations of patients with adjustment disorder are at increased risk for suicide. The current study investigated whether personality traits, including alexithymia, temperament, and character, are associated with an increased risk of suicide in individuals with adjustment disorder. Age- and sex-matched patients meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for adjustment disorder with (n=92) and without (n=92) a history of suicide attempts were recruited for the present study. Ninety-two healthy individuals who did not meet diagnostic criteria for Axis I or II diagnoses were used as controls. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were used to assess personality traits. Significantly higher total and subscale scores on the TAS-20, including on the difficulty-identifying-feelings (DIF) and difficulty-describing-feelings (DDF) subscales, and lower scores on the TCI cooperativeness subscale were noted in adjustment-disorder patients with previous suicide attempts. In the multivariate regression analysis, high DDF and DIF and low cooperativeness increased the risk of suicide attempts in adjustment-disorder patients. A subsequent path analysis revealed that high DDF had a direct effect on suicide attempts, whereas high DIF had an indirect effect on suicide attempts via low cooperativeness.