NCJ Number
200565
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 2003 Pages: 413-432
Date Published
July 2003
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the risk of suicide for individuals who display reactive aggression.
Abstract
Suicide prevention efforts rely upon the development of accurate and reliable risk-identification strategies in order to target those most likely to take their own lives. Research has linked aggression with a heightened risk of suicide. More specifically, reactive aggression has been strongly associated with a propensity toward suicide. Reactive aggression is characterized as an impulsive, angry response to aversive events, especially in the case of perceived or actual interpersonal threat. The authors review the role of reactive aggression in suicide from the perspectives of neurobiology, psychopathology, and overt violent behavior. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that partner-relationship disruptions and psychiatric disorders amplify the risk of suicide for those individuals who display reactive aggression tendencies. Entering prison is another trigger for suicide in reactive aggressive individuals. In order to strengthen prevention and intervention programs, especially within prison and jail settings, more research is necessary on the links between neurobiological markers, psychopathology, and precipitating factors leading to suicide in reactive aggressive individuals. References