Protective Factors Against Suicidal Acts in Major Depression: Reasons for Living

84 inpatients (45 suicide attempters, 39 nonattempters) with DSM-III-R major depression were assessed for depression, general psychopathology, suicide history, reasons for living, & hopelessness. The depressed patients who had not attempted suicide expressed more feelings of responsibility toward family, more fear of social disapproval, more moral objections to suicide, greater survival & coping skills, & a greater fear of suicide than the depressed patients who had attempted suicide. Scores for hopelessness, subjective depression, & suicidal ideation were significantly higher for the suicide attempters. Reasons for living correlated inversely with the combined score on these measures. Neither objective severity of depression nor quantity of recent life events differed between the 2 groups. (26 refs.)