Relationship Between Affective Temperaments and Suicide Risk in Patients With First-Onset Major Depressive Disorder

BackgroundPeople may endorse suicidal behavior during a major depressive episode. Affective temperaments may play a role in this risk. We explored the relationship between affective temperaments and suicide and identified some traits that can predict suicide risk in depression. Materials and MethodsWe analyzed the results of the Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A) in 284 participants recruited from a psychiatric clinic and the community in Beijing and compared the subscale scores (temperaments of cyclothymic, dysthymic, anxious, irritable, and hyperthymic) among major depressive disorders (MDDs) vs. the general population as well as depressive patients with vs. without suicide risk, using Student's test, chi-square test, rank-sum test, and multivariable regression modeling. ResultsThe incidence of suicidal risk in depressive subjects was 47.62% (80/168). Being unmarried (p < 0.001), unemployed (p = 0.007), and temperaments of dysthymic, cyclothymic, anxious, and irritable scores (all p < 0.001) were significantly more prevalent in patients with depression than in the general population. Young age (p < 0.001), female sex (p = 0.037), unmarried (p = 0.001), more severe depression (p < 0.001), and dysthymic, anxious, and cyclothymic temperament (all p < 0.05) were significantly more prevalent in patients with depressive disorder than those without suicide risk. The logistic regression analysis showed that younger age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.937, 95% CI 0.905 similar to 0.970), female sex (OR = 2.606, 95% CI 1.142 similar to 5.948), more severe depression (OR = 1.145, 95% CI 1.063 similar to 1.234), cyclothymic temperament (OR = 1.275, 95% CI 1.102 similar to 1.475), and dysthymic temperament (OR = 1.265, 95% CI 1.037 similar to 1.542) were all independently associated with high suicidal risk in patients with first-onset major depression (p < 0.05). ConclusionTemperament traits differ between the general population and people suffering from MDD. Subjects with MDD who have much more severe depressive symptoms and a cyclothymic or dysthymic temperament were at a high risk of suicide.