The impulsiveness and aggression among suicide attempters in college students

Objective To assess the relationship of impulsiveness and aggression with suicidal behavior and to estimate the prevalence of suicide attempts in college students in the Chongqing municipal region.Methods The "suicide attitude and mental health status questionnaire(university version-Ⅳ)" developed by the Beijing suicide research and prevention center at Beijing huilongguan hospital was administered to 9808 students from 11 colleges in the Chongqing municipal region who were selected by multi-stage stratified random methods.The subscale scores for the impulsiveness and aggression behavior scales from Chinese versions of the Barratt impulsiveness scale(BIS-CV) and the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire(AQ-CV) were analyzed.Results One hundred sixty-nine(1.7%) of the 9808 students reported suicide attempt.Compared to students who did not report prior attempts,suicide attempters had significantly higher total and sub-scale scores on the impulsiveness scale(P 0.001),higher scores on the aggression scale,including the total scale and the subscales for physical aggression,verbal aggression,anger,hostility and aggression towards self(P 0.001).Unconditional logistic regression analysis showed the risk factors for suicide attempt as following: high level of total aggression(OR = 20.81,95%CI:12.36 ～ 35.03,P 0.01),high level of motor impulsiveness(OR = 4.32,95%CI: 2.33 ～ 8.01,P 0.01),high level of total impulsiveness(OR = 3.37,95%CI: 1.65 ～ 8.42,P 0.01),high level of non-planning(OR = 3.12,95%CI:1.75 ～ 5.56,P 0.01),high deathwish(OR = 2.54,95%CI:1.75 ～ 3.70,P 0.01),having had sex behavior(3.12,95%CI:1.75 ～ 5.56,P 0.01),female(OR = 2.15,95%CI:1.48 ～ 3.14,P 0.01),high level of aggression to self(OR = 1.89,95%CI:1.24 ～ 2.88,P 0.01).Conclusions College students who report prior suicide attempts are more likely to have high levels of impulsiveness and aggression than those who do not report prior attempts,suggesting that different intervention programs should be taken to different students to prevent college students suicide attempt.