Personality pathology and intentional self-harm: cross-cutting insights from categorical and dimensional models

Abstract

This paper reviews current literature on the links between personality pathology and intentional self-harm, including nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behaviors. Specifically, this review highlights recent advances stemming from longitudinal, epidemiological, and health registry studies, as well as emerging research on pathological personality traits and intentional self-harm, and integrates current knowledge across dimensional and categorical frameworks to provide recommendations for clinical practice and future research. This review provides strong evidence that personality disorders marked by intense and unstable negative affect, detachment/low extraversion, aggression/hostility, and specific facets of impulsivity may be considered risk factors for suicidal behaviors. Further, there is some evidence of a stronger relation between maladaptive personality traits and suicidal versus non-suicidal intentional self-harm.