[Personality, motivation and affect as modulating factors in suicidal behavior of depressed women]

From a psychological point of view, we would expect that motivational rather than biological dysfunctions mediate initiation of violent and non-violent suicidal actions. To prove this assumption we classified depressed women in four groups according to their suicidal behaviour and matched them to age: suicide ideators, violent suicide attempters, non-violent suicide attempters, non-suicidal depressed controls. We then tested group differences in respect of aggression, impulsivity, introversion, affective lability, anxiety, depression and electrodermal activity (EDA). To take a closer look at motivational dysfunctions, we implemented the Action Control Scale (corresponding to Kuhls theory of action and state orientation), since we regard chronic state orientation as a risk factor for suicidal behaviour. Results show few differences in violent attempters compared with controls. In contrast to non-violent attempters, they show a greater tendency to achievement and action oriented behaviour being less introverted. Non-violent attempters, however, show most significant differences to their controls: Corresponding to a high state orientation, they are more depressed, anxious, less stable in respect of affectiveness, and more introverted, with low scores in aggression and contentedness in life. In contrast to some other studies, nonreactivity in the electrodermal system dominates in all groups. Results demonstrate that motivational dysfunctions like state orientation allow better prediction and understanding of violent or non-violent suicidal behaviour in depressed women than does electrodermal reactivity.