Citation

Hewitt PL, Norton GR, Flett GL, Callander L, Cowan T. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 1998; 28(4): 395-406.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9894307

Abstract

This study assessed whether specific dimensions of perfectionism and hopelessness were elevated in individuals who had made a serious suicide attempt in comparison to individuals with no history of suicide attempts. A sample of 39 inpatients with alcoholism who had made a serious suicide attempt and a matched sample of 39 inpatients with alcoholism but no history of suicide attempts completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Hopelessness Scale, ratings of achievement and social hopelessness, and the Beck Depression Inventory. The attempter group had higher scores on socially prescribed perfectionism, generalized hopelessness, achievement hopelessness, social hopelessness, and depression. A discriminant function analysis revealed that depression, social hopelessness, socially prescribed perfectionism, and other-oriented perfectionism were unique discriminators of the suicide groups. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of social personality variables in attempted suicide.