Few follow-up studies of parasuicides in the literature focus on changes in underlying psychopathology. This study compared a group of parasuicides who mastered their presenting problems within 3 months after the key episode with a group who had not and examined some of the underlying psychopathology and its relationship to repetition of suicidal behavior. Subjects were parasuicides (N=228) who presented at hospitals and were interviewed within 3 days of the event or as soon as detoxification allowed. Subjects were asked to name up to three problems which they considered responsible for the episode and to complete a variety of psychological tests which were repeated at the end of 3 months. Results of predisposing or triggering problems that precipitated deliberate self-harm seemed to depend on more acute versus chronic problems, a sense of mastery and relatively low self-dislike. Compared to non-resolvers, resolvers experienced better fortune, with fewer new stresses and more improvements, which may also have been related to better coping and to the mastery of their initial problems. Nevertheless, one in six persons of either group repeated. They turned out to be people who began deliberate self-harm earlier in life and resorted to it more often. Their shorter prodromes suggest lower thresholds. Externally directed hostility and externally attributed control over their lives also distinguished repeaters. At 3 months they were predictably found to be characterized by poor social adjustment and dislike of themselves. (ABL)