Personality as a Mediator of Demographic Risk Factors for Suicide Attempts in a Community Sample

The study determined whether personality might partially explain associations between sociodemographic factors & self-reported suicide attempts. Data were from a postal survey sent to 912 community residents previously selected at random. In a multiple, logistic-regression analysis constrained to sociodemographic predictors, only young age, female gender, poor self-reported health, & Medicaid status remained as predictors of suicide attempts. When personality factors were added to the model, all of the sociodemographic factors except Medicaid status were rendered nonsignificant or marginally significant. It is concluded that risk associated with certain nonmodifiable demographic factors is often mediated by potentially modifiable intrapersonal factors, such as self-directedness. (54 refs.) JA