Five factor model traits as a predictor of suicide ideation and interpersonal suicide risk in a college sample Hilary L. DeShong, Raymond P. Tucker, Victoria M. O’Keefe, Stephanie N. Mullins-Sweatt n , LaRicka R. Wingate Oklahoma State University, Department of Psychology,116 North Murray Hall, Stillwater, Ok 74078, USA article info Article history: Received 22 August 2014 Received in revised form 31 December 2014 Accepted 2 January 2015 Keywords: Suicide ideation Five-factor model Thwarted belongingness Perceived burdensomeness Interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide Personality abstract Research has demonstrated an inconsistent relationship between suicide ideation and personality traits. This is the first study to empirically examine the relationship of the Five Factor Model of personality with current, past and no suicide ideation, and with the two interpersonal risk factors of suicide: thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (Joiner, T., 2005. Why people die by suicide. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press). Results indicate that high neuroticism was associated with both current ideation and a history of suicide ideation and extraversion was associated with current ideation. Neuroticism was positively related to thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, while extraversion was negatively related to these interpersonal predictors of suicide. Agreeableness was negatively related to thwarted belongingness but not perceived burdensomeness, indicating differen- tiated patterns of relationships between this personality domain and the two suicide constructs. Furthermore, these personality domains predicted 23.82% of variance for thwarted belongingness and 15.07% of the variance for perceived burdensomeness, above and beyond demographic variables associated with suicide ideation. This study, which was conducted with a college sample, demonstrates the potential benefit of identifying predispositional risk factors for suicide ideation and interpersonal predictors of suicide. This may have implications for the development of upstream preventative measures against suicide. & 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction It is estimated that over one million Americans attempted to take their own lives in 2012 (McIntosh and Drapeau, 2012). With these unsettling attempt rates, it is imperative that risk and protective factors are identified to inform the assessment and treatment of individuals who desire to die by suicide. Individual differences in personality can elucidate predispositional factors that indicate a higher susceptibility to develop suicide ideation (SI). Furthermore, identifying these early indicators of suicide risk and resilience may help inform broader theories that explain the development of suicide risk throughout the lifespan and guide the design of early preventative measures of suicide. Personality may be a critical predictor of suicide, as personality characteristics are formed in young adulthood and show stability across the lifespan (Donnellan et al., 2015; Ferguson, 2010). Using a well-established and validated theory of general personality, such as the Five Factor Model (FFM; Digman, 1990) may help identify these potential predispositional risk and resiliency factors. The FFM consists of five broad domains: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experi- ence, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Each of these five broad domains is further differentiated into six more specific facets (Costa and McCrae, 1995). 1.1. FFM and SI There is relatively little research aimed at understanding SI and suicide-related constructs in the context of the FFM, and the findings are largely equivocal. Three studies have specifically investigated the relationship between personality and SI. In a study of SI and personality in young adults, Velting (1999) demonstrated a relationship between high neuroticism and low conscientiousness with SI in females with the neuroticism facets of angry hostility and depressiveness positively related with SI. A subsequent undergraduate study found a link between high neuroticism and low extraversion, conscientiousness, and agree- ableness with SI, regardless of sex (Kerby, 2003). Finally, Chioqueta Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psychres Psychiatry Research http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.01.002 0165-1781/& 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 405 744 9449; fax: þ1 405 744 8067. E-mail address: Stephanie.sweatt@okstate.edu (S.N. Mullins-Sweatt). Please cite this article as: DeShong, H.L., et al., Five factor model traits as a predictor of suicide ideation and interpersonal suicide risk in a college sample. Psychiatry Research (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.01.002i Psychiatry Research ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎