Psychological Vulnerability to Completed Suicide: a Review of Empirical Studies

This article reviews the empirical literature on psychological vulnerability to completed suicide. A search of the Medline & Psycinfo databases yielded 46 cohort or case-control studies that used standardized or structured assessments of psychological dimensions. Five constructs have been consistently associated with completed suicide: impulsivity/aggression, depression, anxiety, hopelessness, & self-consciousness/social disengagement. Current knowledge of psychological vulnerability to completed suicide could inform social & neurobiological reseach, & thereby deepen understanding of suicide while potentially bridging these areas of study. (150 refs.)