The Association Between Suicidal Ideation, Personality Traits, and Stress Hormones in Final-Year Medical Students

This study aims to investigate the relationship between suicide risk, personality traits, and stress-related hormone levels among final-year medical students.

This study was conducted between October 2022 and June 2023 with the senior students of Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine. Participants responded to the Suicide Probability Scale (SPS) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, along with a questionnaire inquiring sociodemographic characteristics. Venous blood samples were collected.

One of the 80 participants (1.3%) reported previous attempted suicide and 16 (20.0%) reported suicidal thoughts. The mean SPS score was significantly higher in patients with psychiatric disorders (p = 0.006) and suicidal ideation (p = 0.001). Extraversion score (p = 0.017) was lower and neuroticism score (p = 0.002) was higher in participants with suicidal ideation. The adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), prolactin, cortisol, atrial natriuretic peptide, cholecystokinin, and growth hormone levels were similar in those with and without suicidal ideation (p > 0.05). There was a positive, weak correlation between ACTH level and SPS score (r = 0.228, p = 0.042).

In this study, 1 out of every 5 interns had suicidal thoughts. The presence of psychiatric disorders and suicidal ideation was associated with an increase in the SPS score. The participants with suicidal ideation had higher neuroticism scores and lower extroversion scores. Although ACTH levels did not significantly differ between groups with and without suicidal ideation, a weak positive correlation with SPS scores was identified. Given that medical students are considered a group at risk of suicide, they should be monitored for suicide during their education and intervened with psychiatric, social, and medical support mechanisms.