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Characteristics of Alcoholics Who Attempted Suicide: Co-occurring Disorders and Personality Differences with a Sample of Male Vietnam Era Veterans
Michael Windle
Data from the Vietnam Experience Study were used to examine differences among alcoholic suicide attempters and alcoholic nonattempters with regard to co-occurring psychiatric disorders and MMPI scale scores. Comparisons between the 83 alcoholic suicide attempters and the remaining 978 alcoholic nonattempters indicated that suicide attempters had significantly higher rates of co-occurring disorders as well as an MMPI-based personality pattern characterized by higher levels of pathology. A discriminant function analysis yielded an overall classification accuracy of 74.08%, with significant MMPI scale scores suggestive of personality differences in impulsivity, destructiveness and assaultiveness (especially code 4-9-6). Suicide attempts may be a manifestation of self-destructive behavior that typifies a subset of alcoholics with pervasive difficulties. (J. Stud. Alcohol. 55: 571-577, 1994)
