Quality of Internalized Object Representations and Suicidality in Individuals With Anaclitic and Introjective Personality Styles

Abstract

Research has shown differences in the characteristics of suicidal behavior in individuals with dependent (anaclitic) versus self-critical (introjective) personality styles. Questions remain, however, as to what factors distinguish suicidal from nonsuicidal individuals within each personality style. The current study examined clinical and interpersonal correlates of suicidality in 124 patients attending residential treatment for complex psychiatric disorders, with the aim of clarifying how social cognition and quality of internalized object representations relate to suicidality in individuals with anaclitic versus introjective personality organizations. Higher anaclitic and lower introjective traits each predicted higher frequency of prior attempts. Furthermore, higher anaclitic and lower introjective traits interacted with the affective-interpersonal quality of object representations to predict prior attempts, such that each trait was associated with more frequent past attempts in the context of poorer quality of object relations. The treatment implications of these findings are discussed, and areas for future research are considered.