Suicidality in People With Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms or Personality Traits

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) are conditions often associated with mood instability, depression, and suicidal outcomes.
• Previous research suggests a link between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and personality traits and adverse mental health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and personality traits with suicidal thoughts, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicide attempts.
• To determine if these associations are independent of depression and mood instability.
• To explore the role of obsessional thoughts of death in these relationships.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 7,839 participants in the 2000 British Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.
• Employed logistic regression models to assess associations between OCD symptoms, OCPD traits, depression, mood instability, and suicide-related outcomes.
• Conducted network analysis to examine the relationship between mood instability, depression, obsessional thoughts of death, and self-harm.

Main Results:

• OCD symptoms were significantly associated with suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
• OCPD traits showed associations with suicidal thoughts, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicide attempts.
• Both depression and mood instability were linked to all examined suicide-related outcomes. Mood instability emerged as a prominent correlate of suicidal ideas and non-suicidal self-injury in network analysis.

Conclusions:

• Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and personality traits are independently associated with suicide-related outcomes, even after accounting for depressive symptoms and mood instability.
• The relationship between obsessive-compulsive phenomena and suicide-related outcomes is not solely explained by obsessional thoughts of death.