Understanding the Influence of Personality Traits on Risk of Suicidal Behaviour in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Risk of suicidal behaviour (SB) in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) is a major concern, particularly in early stages of the illness, when suicide accounts for a high number of premature deaths. Although some risk factors for SB in SSD are well understood, the extent to which personality traits may affect this risk remains unclear, which may have implications for prevention. We conducted a systematic review of previous studies indexed in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase examining the relationship between personality traits and SB in samples of patients with SSD. Seven studies fulfilled predetermined selection criteria. Harm avoidance, passive-dependent, schizoid and schizotypal personality traits increased the risk of SB, while self-directedness, cooperativeness, excluding persistence and self-transcendence acted as protective factors. Although only seven studies were retrieved from three major databases after applying predetermined selection criteria, we found some evidence to support that personality issues may contribute to SB in patients with SSD. Personality traits may therefore become part of routine suicide risk assessment and interventions targeting these personality-related factors may contribute to prevention of SB in SSD.

Network Analysis of the Structure of the Core Symptoms and Clinical Correlates in Comorbid Schizophrenia and Gambling Disorder

“…This profile is typical of emotionally unstable individuals with a tendency to perceive any event as potentially stressful, and therefore highly vulnerable to anxiety and to the use of unhealthy behaviors to cope with these negative states (Zhou et al, 2017). And among SCZ patients, self-transcendence has been related with multiple unhealthy correlates, such as the social function (troubled and non-satisfying interpersonal relationships) (Kashiwagi et al, 2022), suicidal behavior (Canal-Rivero et al, 2021), and the presence of dual diagnoses characterized by substance-related disorder (Río-Martínez et al, 2020). These results could elucidate the results obtained in our network, suggesting that self-transcendence among SCZ could increase patients' propensity to engage in risky situations, while predisposing them in an isolated-closed world (these are, precisely, two relevant signs of the onset and progression of gambling-related problems).…”