Citation

Roy A. Arch. Suicide Res. 2004; 8(4): 375-378.

Affiliation

Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey 07018, USA. Alec.Roy@med.va.gov

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, International Academy of Suicide Research, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13811110490476761

PMID

16081403

Abstract

Impulsivity is a personality dimension often implicated in suicidal behavior. However, it has been little studied in drug dependent patients who attempt suicide. Therefore, 292 recently abstinent opiate or cocaine dependent patients were asked to complete the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS). Those who had attempted suicide were compared with those who had never attempted suicide for their scores on the BIS. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the drug dependent patients who had attempted suicide (N = 91) and those who had never attempted suicide (N = 201) on BIS scores. The possible clinical implication may be that the high impulsivity associated with drug dependent patients may mitigate the utility of impulsivity in the suicide risk assessment of such patients.

Language: en