1. Home

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUICIDE IDEATION, DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AND PERSONALITY TRAITS IN ELDERLY: PILOT STUDY RESULTS

Jeļena Ļubenko, Viktorija Perepjolkina, Kristīne Mārtinsone, Elmārs Rancāns, Ainārs Stepens

Abstract


Healthy aging and the research on the related factors is one of the World Health Organization's priorities for the 2020-2030 years. Depression and suicidal ideation can adversely affect an individual's aging experience. Personality traits are important factors that allow to predict the individual's behavior in different situations, as well as the accurance of emotional difficulties. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation and personality traits in elderly, and to determine whether the relationship between personality traits and suicidal ideation remains statistically significant after controlling the severity of depression symptoms. Thirty nine respondents aged 65 and over were included in the pilot study (M = 71.23; SD = 4.95). The Latvian Clinical Personality Inventory (LCPI) was used for data collection. The results indicate a statistically significant relationship between several personality traits, depression symptoms and suicidal ideation for elderly. Controlling the severity of depression symptoms, statistically significant correlations were found between suicidal ideation and personality traits such as distrust, social withdrawal, self-harm, dissociation proneness on facet level and introversion on domain level. The results of the pilot study largely coincide with the results of previous studies and indicate that certain personality traits, irrespective of the degree of severity of depression symptoms, can explain an additional variation in suicidal thoughts and, hence, the risk of suicide for elderly. It would be important to conduct a study with similar variables in a larger sample.

Keywords


elderly; depression symptoms; personality traits; suicidal ideation

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alexopoulos, G. S. (2005). Depression in the elderly. The lancet, 365(9475), 1961-1970.

Baek, Y., Martin, P., Siegler, I. C., Davey, A., & Poon, L. W. (2016). Personality Traits and Successful Aging: Findings From the Georgia Centenarian Study. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 83(3), 207-227.

Barry, L. C., Allore, H. G., Bruce, M. L., & Gill, T. M. (2009). Longitudinal association between depressive symptoms and disability burden among older persons. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences, 64(12), 1325-1332.

Christensen, K., Doblhammer, G., Rau, R., & Vaupel, J. W. (2009). Ageing populations: the challenges ahead. The lancet, 374(9696), 1196-1208.

Conrad, R., Walz, F., Geiser, F., Imbierowicz, K., Liedtke, R., & Wegener, I. (2009). Temperament and character personality profile in relation to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in major depressed patients. Psychiatry Research, 170(2), 212-217.

Conwell, Y., Duberstein, P. R., & Caine, E. D. (2002). Risk factors for suicide in later life. Biological psychiatry, 52(3), 193-204.

Conwell, Y., Van Orden, K., & Caine, E.D. (2011). Suicide in older adults. The Psychiatric clinics of North America, 34(2), 451-68.

Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1985). The NEO personality inventory.

Crowther, M. R., Parker, M. W., Achenbaum, W. A., Larimore, W. L., & Koenig, H. G. (2002). Rowe and Kahn's model of successful aging revisited: Positive spirituality—The forgotten factor. The Gerontologist, 42(5), 613-620.

Cuijpers, P., & Smit, F. (2004). Subthreshold depression as a risk indicator for major depressive disorder: a systematic review of prospective studies. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 109(5), 325-331.

Dennis, M., Baillon, S., Brugha, T., Lindesay, J., Stewart, R., & Meltzer, H. (2007). The spectrum of suicidal ideation in Great Britain: comparisons across a 16–74 years age range. Psychological medicine, 37(6), 795-805.

Draper, B., Kõlves, K., Leo, D., & Snowdon, J. (2014). A controlled study of suicide in middle‐aged and older people: Personality traits, age, and psychiatric disorders. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 44(2), 130-138.

Forlani, C., Morri, M., Ferrari, B., Dalmonte, E., Menchetti, M., De Ronchi, D., & Atti, A. R. (2014). Prevalence and gender differences in late-life depression: a population-based study. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(4), 370-380.

Franklin, J. C., Ribeiro, J. D., Fox, K. R., Bentley, K. H., Kleiman, E. M., Huang, X., ... & Nock, M. K. (2017). Risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A meta-analysis of 50 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 143(2), 187.

Fremouw, W. J., De Perczel, M., & Ellis, T. E. (1990). Suicide risk: Assessment and response guidelines. Pergamon Press.

Gournellis, R., & Lykouras, L. (2006). Psychotic (delusional) major depression in the elderly: a review. Current Psychiatry Reviews, 2(2), 235-244.

Heisel, M. J. (2006). Suicide and its prevention among older adults. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 51(3), 143-154.

Hirvikoski, T., & Jokinen, J. (2012). Personality traits in attempted and completed suicide. European Psychiatry, 27(7), 536-541.

Jeste, D. V., Savla, G. N., Thompson, W. K., Vahia, I. V., Glorioso, D. K., Martin, A. V. S., ... & Depp, C. A. (2013). Association between older age and more successful aging: critical role of resilience and depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(2), 188-196.

Kaneko, Y., Motohashi, Y., Sasaki, H., & Yamaji, M. (2007). Prevalence of depressive symptoms and related risk factors for depressive symptoms among elderly persons living in a rural Japanese community: a cross-sectional study. Community mental health journal, 43(6), 583-590.

Lin, E. H., Heckbert, S. R., Rutter, C. M., Katon, W. J., Ciechanowski, P., Ludman, E. J., ... & Von Korff, M. (2009). Depression and increased mortality in diabetes: unexpected causes of death. The Annals of Family Medicine, 7(5), 414-421.

Lykouras, Gournellis, Fortos, Oulis, & Christodoulou. (2002). Psychotic (delusional) major depression in the elderly and suicidal behaviour. Journal of Affective Disorders, 69(1), 225-229.

Martin, P., Kelly, N., Kahana, B., Kahana, E., Willcox, B. J., Willcox, D. C., & Poon, L. W. (2014). Defining successful aging: A tangible or elusive concept?. The Gerontologist, 55(1), 14-25.

McIntosh, J. L., Santos, J. F., Hubbard, R. W., & Overholser, J. C. (1994). Elder suicide: Research, theory and treatment. American Psychological Association.

Montross, L. P., Depp, C., Daly, J., Reichstadt, J., Golshan, S., Moore, D., ... & Jeste, D. V. (2006). Correlates of self-rated successful aging among community-dwelling older adults. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14(1), 43-51.

O'shea, D. M., Dotson, V. M., & Fieo, R. A. (2017). Aging perceptions and self‐efficacy mediate the association between personality traits and depressive symptoms in older adults. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 32(12), 1217-1225.

Perepjolkina, V., Koļesnikova, J., Mārtinsone, K., Stepens, A. (pieņemts publicēšanai). Latvijas klīniskais personības tests. Tehniskā rokasgrāmata. Rīga: RSU izdevniecība

Polyakova, M., Sonnabend, N., Sander, C., Mergl, R., Schroeter, M. L., Schroeder, J., & Schönknecht, P. (2014). Prevalence of minor depression in elderly persons with and without mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review. Journal of affective disorders, 152, 28-38.

Rafanelli, C., Roncuzzi, R., & Milaneschi, Y. (2006). Minor depression as a cardiac risk factor after coronary artery bypass surgery. Psychosomatics, 47(4), 289-295.

Richards, D. (2011). Prevalence and clinical course of depression: a review. Clinical psychology review, 31(7), 1117-1125.

Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. The gerontologist, 37(4), 433-440.

Shanahan, M. J., Hill, P. L., Roberts, B. W., Eccles, J., & Friedman, H. S. (2014). Conscientiousness, health, and aging: the life course of personality model. Developmental Psychology, 50(5), 1407.

Strawbridge, W. J., Deleger, S., Roberts, R. E., & Kaplan, G. A. (2002). Physical activity reduces the risk of subsequent depression for older adults. American journal of epidemiology, 156(4), 328-334.

Steunenberg, B., Braam, A., Beekman, A., Deeg, D., & Kerkhof, A. (2009). Evidence for an association of the big five personality factors with recurrence of depressive symptoms in later life. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(12), 1470-1477.

Unützer, J. (2002). Diagnosis and treatment of older adults with depression in primary care. Biological psychiatry, 52(3), 285-292.

Vahia, I. V., Thompson, W. K., Depp, C. A., Allison, M., & Jeste, D. V. (2012). Developing a dimensional model for successful cognitive and emotional aging. International Psychogeriatrics, 24(4), 515-23.

Vahia, I. V., Meeks, T. W., Thompson, W. K., Depp, C. A., Zisook, S., Allison, M., ... & Jeste, D. V. (2010). Subthreshold depression and successful aging in older women. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(3), 212-220.

Versey, H. S., Stewart, A. J., & Duncan, L. E. (2013). Successful aging in late midlife: The role of personality among college-educated women. Journal of Adult Development, 20(2), 63-75.

Weber, K., Giannakopoulos, P., Bacchetta, J. P., Quast, S., Herrmann, F. R., Delaloye, C., ... & Canuto, A. (2012). Personality traits are associated with acute major depression across the age spectrum. Aging & mental health, 16(4), 472-480.

World Health Organization. (2017). Suicide. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/ factsheets/fs398/en/

World Health Organization. (2016). The Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health. http://www.who.int/ageing/global-strategy/en/

World Health Organization. (2015). Suicide rates (per 100 000 population. http://apps.who.int/gho/ data/node.sdg.3-4-data?lang=en

Zalpuri, I., & Rothschild, A. J. (2016). Does psychosis increase the risk of suicide in patients with major depression? A systematic review. Journal of affective disorders, 198, 23-31.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17770/sie2018vol1.3273

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija, 2016 © Atbrīvošanas aleja 115, Rēzekne, Latvija. Tālrunis: 28325368;
Jautājumus un ierosinājumus sūtiet uz helpdesk@rta.lv