Social Pathology and Personality in Attempted Suicide

Abstract

Social variables shown to be related to attempted suicide were used to form a scale of social pathology. The relationships between this scale and some psychological variables were investigated in 84 patients admitted to hospital following a suicidal attempt. High social pathology scores were related to high scores on a Character Neurosis scale but were not related to degree of Personal Illness or Cattell's NSQ. These findings are discussed with reference to the importance of social factors in classifying persons who poison or injure themselves.