Association Between Suicidal Behaviour and Cannabis and Tranquilizer use, Depression, Aggression and Other Borderline Personality Traits Among Students in Sincelejo, Colombia

Kelly Romero-Acosta; Salomón Verhelst; Gillian A Lowe; Garth E Lipps; José Restrepo; Leodanis Fonseca

doi:10.1016/j.rcp.2021.05.009

Association Between Suicidal Behaviour and Cannabis and Tranquilizer use, Depression, Aggression and Other Borderline Personality Traits Among Students in Sincelejo, Colombia

Rev Colomb Psiquiatr (Engl Ed). 2021 Jul 7:S0034-7450(21)00106-2. doi: 10.1016/j.rcp.2021.05.009. Online ahead of print.

[Article in English, Spanish]

Authors

Kelly Romero-Acosta¹, Salomón Verhelst², Gillian A Lowe³, Garth E Lipps⁴, José Restrepo², Leodanis Fonseca²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychological Research, House 9, Corporación Universitaria del Caribe CECAR, Sincelejo, Colombia. Electronic address: k.kellyromeroacosta@gmail.com.
² Department of Psychological Research, House 9, Corporación Universitaria del Caribe CECAR, Sincelejo, Colombia.
³ Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, The University of the West Indies - Mona, Kingston, Jamaica.
⁴ Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work, The University of the West Indies - Mona, Kingston, Jamaica.

PMID: 34246472
DOI: 10.1016/j.rcp.2021.05.009

Abstract

Objective: This objective of this study is to examine the association between suicidal behaviour and substance use, depression, aggressiveness and borderline personality traits among adolescents from Sincelejo, a rural city in the north of Colombia.

Methods: This cross sectional study included 352 participants selected by purposive sampling, from a public and a private school located in Sincelejo, Sucre district, in the north of Colombia. Students ages ranged from 12 to 18 years old (mean, 15.09±1.82). The participants completed three screening tools: a socio-demographic questionnaire, a screening instrument to collect information related to the frequency of use of some substances, such as tobacco and cannabis, and a self-report inventory to assess various personality and psychopathology domains. A series of t-tests, ANOVA and linear regression analyses were conducted.

Results: Physical aggression (t=7.74; p <0.01), cognitive depression (t=5.03; p <0.01), affective depression (t=8.24; p <0.01), affective instability (t=3.46; p <0.01), few social relationships (t=3.36; p <0.01), self-harm (t=3.45; p<.01), cannabis and tranquilizer use (t=2.83; p <0.05; and t=2.37; p <0.05) had a significant independent relationship with suicidal behaviour. Aggression (t=2.59; p <0.05), components of depression (t=9.03; p <0.01) and borderline personality traits (t=4.12; p <0.01) also predicted suicidal behaviour.

Conclusions: More longitudinal studies are needed in this area to identify the causal relations between the factors studied and the suicidal behaviour of young people in Sincelejo.

Keywords: Borderline personality traits; Características de la personalidad; Colombian youth; Comportamiento suicida; Depresión; Depression; Jóvenes colombianos; Substance use; Suicidal behaviour; Uso de sustancias.