Suicide Risk in Externalizing Syndromes: Temperamental and Neurobiological Underpinnings

Abstract

One aim of this paper is to review the evidence for a relationship between suicidal tendencies (ideation, attempts, completions) and externalizing behaviors and syndromes. A second aim is to review evidence indicating that this connection is mediated by a distinct constellation of temperament traits, that may in turn be linked to a common neurobiological substrate. The major thesis of this chapter is that there exists a specified subgroup of individuals who are at risk for suicide by virtue of the fact that they are highly stress-reactive and prone to act impulsively. These same individuals show heightened propensities toward criminal activity, violent acting out, and pathological drinking. For individuals of this type, suicidal behavior may represent a characteristically impulsive coping response to circumstances of intolerable distress. Low brain serotonin may serve as a biological trait marker of this at-risk subgroup. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)