Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 56, Issue 4 328-336, Copyright © 1994 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Self-reported hostility and suicidal acts, accidents, and accidental deaths: a prospective study of 21,443 adults aged 25 to 59

K Romanov, M Hatakka, E Keskinen, H Laaksonen, J Kaprio, RJ Rose and M Koskenvuo
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.

The association of self-reported hostility with morbidity and mortality due to external causes, including suicidal acts, was analyzed in 10,586 Finnish men and 10,857 Finnish women aged 24 to 59 years. Hostility was assessed from self-ratings on irritability, ease of anger-arousal, and argumentativeness. Three groups, low (33.6% of subjects), intermediate (50.6%), and extreme (15.9%), were formed from the self-reported hostility scores. A 6-year mortality follow-up yielded 76 violent deaths among men and 11 among women. A 4-year morbidity follow-up found 399 hospitalizations due to external causes among men and 169 among women. Among men, the risk ratio between the highest and lowest hostility groups was 1.51 (95% confidence interval, 1.16-1.96) for all events due to external causes and 3.6 (95% confidence interval, 1.63-7.89) for suicidal behavior, when effects of age, marital status, social status, and self-reported alcohol use were controlled in a multivariate model. No association was observed between traffic-related injuries and hostility. Hostility did not predict accidents or accidental deaths or suicidal behavior among women.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. H. Perlis, S. Purcell, M. Fava, J. Fagerness, A. J. Rush, M. H. Trivedi, and J. W. Smoller Association Between Treatment-Emergent Suicidal Ideation With Citalopram and Polymorphisms Near Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate Response Element Binding Protein in the STAR*D Study Arch Gen Psychiatry, June 1, 2007; 64(6): 689 - 697. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. D. Terry, J. L. Abramson, J. D. Neaton, and for the MRFIT Research Group Blood Pressure and Risk of Death from External Causes among Men Screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial Am. J. Epidemiol., February 1, 2007; 165(3): 294 - 301. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. C. Vinson and V. Arelli State Anger and the Risk of Injury: A Case-Control and Case-Crossover Study Ann. Fam. Med, January 1, 2006; 4(1): 63 - 68. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. I. Krakowski and P. Czobor Psychosocial Risk Factors Associated With Suicide Attempts and Violence Among Psychiatric Inpatients Psychiatr Serv, December 1, 2004; 55(12): 1414 - 1419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Mullen and J. M. Smyth Immigrant Suicide Rates as a Function of Ethnophaulisms: Hate Speech Predicts Death Psychosom Med, May 1, 2004; 66(3): 343 - 348. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. L. Knox, Y. Conwell, and E. D. Caine If Suicide Is a Public Health Problem, What Are We Doing to Prevent It? Am J Public Health, January 1, 2004; 94(1): 37 - 45. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				K. R. Conner, C. Cox, P. R. Duberstein, L. Tian, P. A. Nisbet, and Y. Conwell Violence, Alcohol, and Completed Suicide: A Case-Control Study Am J Psychiatry, October 1, 2001; 158(10): 1701 - 1705. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Koivumaa-Honkanen, R. Honkanen, H. Viinamäki, K. Heikkilä, J. Kaprio, and M. Koskenvuo Life Satisfaction and Suicide: A 20-Year Follow-Up Study Am J Psychiatry, March 1, 2001; 158(3): 433 - 439. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				H. Koivumaa-Honkanen, R. Honkanen, H. Viinamaki, K. Heikkila, J. Kaprio, and M. Koskenvuo Self-reported Life Satisfaction and 20-Year Mortality in Healthy Finnish Adults Am. J. Epidemiol., November 15, 2000; 152(10): 983 - 991. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. GARLAND, D. HICKEY, A. CORVIN, J. GOLDEN, P. FITZPATRICK, S. CUNNINGHAM, and N. WALSH Total serum cholesterol in relation to psychological correlates in parasuicide The British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1, 2000; 177(1): 77 - 83. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Parkkari, P. Kannus, S. Niemi, S. Koskinen, M. Palvanen, I. Vuori, and M. Jarvinen Childhood deaths and injuries in Finland in 1971-1995 Int. J. Epidemiol., June 1, 2000; 29(3): 516 - 523. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. H. Laub and G. E. Vaillant Delinquency and Mortality: A 50-Year Follow-Up Study of 1,000 Delinquent and Nondelinquent Boys Am J Psychiatry, January 1, 2000; 157(1): 96 - 102. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				P. Kannus, J. Parkkari, S. Koskinen, S. Niemi, M. Palvanen, M. Jarvinen, and I. Vuori Fall-Induced Injuries and Deaths Among Older Adults JAMA, May 26, 1999; 281(20): 1895 - 1899. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Whitfield and D. A. Southern The prevention of suicide: some practical steps The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, October 1, 1996; 116(5): 295 - 297.