Relationship between suicide attempt history and borderline personality disorder, aggression, impulsivity, and self-mutilative behavior among male inpatients with substance use disorder

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between lifetime history of suicide attempt (HSA) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), aggression, impulsivity, and selfmutilative behavior (SMB) in a sample of male inpatients with substance use disorder (SUD).
Method: The sample included 132 male inpatients with alcohol or opioid use disorder. The participants were evaluated using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, the Short Form of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11-SF), and a structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) for BPD.
Results: The mean age was lower in the group with HSA (n = 52, 39.4%) compared to the group without HSA (n = 80, 60.6%), whereas no difference was found between the groups in terms of duration of education, alcohol or opioid use disorder, marital status, and employment status. The rate of BPD and SMB and aggression and impulsivity scores were higher among those with lifetime HSA. According to linear regression analysis, although BPD, anger, and non-planning impulsivity predicted HSA, when SMB was included in the analysis BPD was no longer a predictor. SMB, on the other hand, predicted HSA together with anger and non-planning impulsivity.
Conclusion: While BPD and HSA are associated, SMB seems to have a mediating role in this relationship. In addition, anger and non-planning impulsivity may have a partial mediating role in the relationship
between BPD and HSA among patients with SUD.