Short communication, Note

TEMPERAMENT, CHARACTER, AND SUICIDALITY AMONG CROATIAN WAR VETERANS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Nenad Jakšić orcid.org/0000-0002-5286-720X ; National Center for Psychotrauma, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Branka Aukst-Margetić ; National Center for Psychotrauma, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Darko Marčinko ; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Lovorka Brajković ; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Mladen Lončar ; National Center for Psychotrauma, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Miro Jakovljević ; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

Background: The occurrence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors is rather frequent among war veterans, particularly those
suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understanding factors present within these individuals that increase suicide
risk may inform prevention efforts. The present study aimed to determine whether the dimensions of temperament and character are
associated with various aspects of suicidality among Croatian war veterans with PTSD.
Subjects and methods: A sample of 72 Croatian male war veterans (mean age 52.33 years) diagnosed with PTSD was gathered
at the National Center for Psychotrauma between May and October 2014. The participants completed the Temperament and
Character Inventory - Revised (TCI-R) and the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire - Revised (SBQ-R).
Results: Zero-order analyses revealed that temperament dimension Harm avoidance and character dimension Self-directedness
were moderately associated with the total risk for suicide (i.e., the SBQ-R total score), while Persistence and Cooperativeness
showed significant but weaker relations. Different dimensions of suicidality were associated with different personality traits. Harm
Avoidance was shown to be significantly increased among the subgroup of war veterans with high suicidal risk.
Conclusions: Notwithstanding some limitations of this study, these findings could help extend our understanding of the elevated
suicide risk in war veterans with PTSD. Detection of individuals displaying high Harm Avoidance and low Self-Directedness might
facilitate prevention of suicidal behaviors in this population.

Keywords

temperament – character – personality – suicide – war veterans – PTSD – Croatia

Hrčak ID:

155891

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/155891

Publication date:

9.3.2015.

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