Relations of the Big-Five personality dimensions to autodestructive behavior in clinical and non-clinical adolescent populations

Abstract

AimTo examine the relationship between the Big-Five personality model and autodestructive behavior symptoms, namely Autodestructiveness and Suicidal Depression in two groups of participants: clinical and non-clinical adolescents.MethodsTwo groups of participants, clinical (adolescents with diagnosis of psychiatric disorder based on clinical impression and according to valid diagnostic criteria, N = 92) and non-clinical (high-school students, N = 87), completed two sets of questionnaires: the Autodestructiveness Scale which provided data on Autodestructiveness and Suicidal Depression, and the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), which provided data on the Big -Five personality dimensions.ResultsClinical group showed significantly higher values on the Autodestructiveness scale in general, as well as on Suicidal Depression, Aggressiveness, and Borderline subscales than the non-clinical group. Some of the dimensions of the Big-Five personality model, ie, Emotional Stability, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness showed significant relationship (hierarchical regression analyses, P values for β coefficients from <0.001 to 0.021) with Autodestructivness and Suicidal Depression, even after controlling for the sex and group effects or, when analyzing Suicidal Depression, after controlling the effect of other subscales.ConclusionThe results indicate that dimensions of the Big-Five model are important when evaluating adolescent psychiatric patients and adolescents from general population at risk of self-destructive behavior.

Big Five personality traits in the occurrence and repetition of nonsuicidal self-injury among adolescents: The mediating effects of depressive symptoms

“…Additionally, we found that NSSI frequency was positively correlated with neuroticism and depression and negatively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. These findings were also consistent with those of earlier studies (Claes et al, 2014;Goldstein et al, 2009;Hasking et al, 2010;Robertson et al, 2013;Topić et al, 2012).…”

“…Research showed that NSSI frequency was positively associated with neuroticism (some studies examined negative affectivity and emotional instability, which are similar constructs as neuroticism; Claes et al, 2014;Goldstein, Flett, Wekerle, & Wall, 2009;Topić, Kovačević, & Mlačić, 2012), and negatively associated with extraversion (Hasking et al, 2010;Topić et al, 2012), agreeableness (Hasking et al, 2010;Robertson, Miskey, Mitchell, & Nelson-Gray, 2013), and conscientiousness (Hasking et al, 2010;Topić et al, 2012). Additionally, one study reported a positive correlation between openness and NSSI (Goldstein et al, 2009), one study reported a negative correlation (Hasking et al, 2010), and the others reviewed above reported a non-significant correlation between openness and NSSI.…”

The ABC’s of Suicide Risk Assessment: Applying a Tripartite Approach to Individual Evaluations

“…Studies 1–3 included the following measures of suicide risk and protective factors: depressive symptoms, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D, Study 1) [ 80 ], CES-D 10 (Study 2) [ 81 ], Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS, Study 3) [ 82 ]; stress and anxiety (DASS, Study 3); a 5-item version of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS5) [ 83 ]; a 5-item version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA5) [ 84 ]; the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS, Studies 1–3) [ 85 ]; and satisfaction with life (SWL, Study 3) [ 86 ]. We included weekly hours of online shopping (Study 2) [ 66 ], and the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) Intellect scale (Study 3) [ 87 ], as discriminant validity checks [ 88 ]. All measures demonstrated adequate internal reliability (α ≥ .80).…”

Circadian Typology and Personality Dimensions of Croatian Students of Health-Related University Majors

“…Previous studies have reported an association between personality dimensions and a wide range of mental problems. Lower emotional stability is associated with anxiety, depression and other negative emotions [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], while higher extroversion protects against depressive symptoms [ 16 , 17 ]. Circadian preference has been considered a potential intervening factor in affective and other minor psychiatric disorders [ 18 ] and chronotype has been found to correlate with some personality dimensions [ 19 ].…”