Latent profiles of psychopathological and criminological characteristics in prisoners: associations with suicide risk

Prison suicide continues to be a global public health concern. Based on the stress-diathesis model, there may be interactions between psychopathological vulnerabilities and criminological stressors that contribute to suicide risk. However, no prior studies have empirically elucidated how these factors jointly configure distinct risk profiles among prisoners. We conducted a latent profile analysis of 1,031 male prisoners from two correctional facilities in mainland China. This involved integrating criminological stressors (sentence length and remaining sentence) and psychopathological vulnerabilities (intolerance of uncertainty, sense of control, and interpersonal security). Suicide risk was assessed by the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-revised. Four latent profiles emerged: Class 1, high intolerance of uncertainty (IU), low sense of security, and a short sentence (39.2%, OR = 5.16, 95%CI = 3.06–8.70); Class 2, longer sentence, moderate IU, and moderate sense of security (14.0%, OR = 2.60, 95%CI = 1.30–5.19); Class 3, longest sentence, moderate IU, and moderate sense of security (9.9%, OR = 2.28, 95%CI = 1.04–5.00); and Class 4, low risk (37.0%, reference). Class 1, 2 and 3 had a significant increase in suicide risk compared to that of Class 4. This is the first study to use person-centered integration of criminological and psychological variables to identify prisoner subtypes with a differential suicide risk. The high-risk profile demands urgent clinical prioritization that advocates for routine screening of IU and sense of security during prison intake and also policy reforms to reduce systemic uncertainties (e.g., transparent sentence adjustments).