Adolescent suicide attempts in the United States: When suicide ideation and suicide capability interact

Preliminary Reporting Patterns of Suicide Ideation and Attempt Among Native American Adolescents in Two Samples

OBJECTIVE

Native American adolescents are disproportionately burdened by suicidality. Here, we examine patterns of reporting of suicide ideation and suicide attempt among Native American youth compared to those from other ethnoracial backgrounds, as this data is important for grounding commonly subscribed to frameworks of suicide risk (e.g., ideation-to-action).

METHOD

Data are from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (N = 54,243; grades 9-12; 51.0% female) and Minnesota Student Survey (N = 335,151; grades 8, 9, 11; 50.7% female). Comparing Native American youth to peers from other ethnoracial backgrounds, we examined two suicide reporting patterns: 1) odds of reporting suicide attempt among those who reported ideation and 2) odds of reporting suicide ideation among those who reported an attempt.

RESULTS

Across both samples, when reporting suicide ideation, youth from other ethnoracial backgrounds were 20-55% less likely than Native American youth to also report attempt. While few consistent differences were observed between Native American youth and those from other racial minority backgrounds in patterns of co-reporting suicide ideation and attempt across samples, White youth were between 37% and 63% less likely than Native American youth to report a suicide attempt without also reporting ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

The increased odds of engaging in a suicide attempt with or without reporting ideation question the generalizability of widely held frameworks of suicide risk to Native American youth and have important implications for suicide risk monitoring. Future research is needed to illuminate how these behaviors unfold over time and the potential mechanisms of risk for engaging in suicide attempts in this disproportionately burdened group.Abbreviations: YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey; MSS: Minnesota Student Survey.

Why do adolescents attempt suicide? Insights from leading ideation-to-action suicide theories: a systematic review

Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents, and recent suicide theories have sought to clarify the factors that facilitate the transition from suicide ideation to action. Specifically, the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS), Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model (IMV), and Three Step Theory (3ST) have highlighted risk factors central to the formation of suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviors, which is necessary for suicide death. However, these models were initially developed and tested among adults, and given core socioemotional and neurodevelopmental differences in adolescents, the applicability of these models remains unclear. Directly addressing this gap in knowledge, this systematic review aimed to (1) describe the evidence of leading ideation-to-action theories (i.e., IPTS, IMV, 3ST) as they relate to suicide risk among adolescents, (2) integrate ideation-to-action theories within prevailing biological frameworks of adolescent suicide, and (3) provide recommendations for future adolescent suicide research. Overall, few studies provided a complete test of models in adolescent samples, and empirical research testing components of these theories provided mixed support. Future research would benefit from integrating neurodevelopmental and developmentally sensitive psychosocial frameworks to increase the applicability of ideation-to-action theories to adolescents. Further, utilizing real-time monitoring approaches may serve to further clarify the temporal association among risk factors and suicide.

Clarifying the relationship between physical injuries and risk for suicide attempt in a Swedish national sample

INTRODUCTION

The Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide proposes that capability for suicide is acquired through exposure to painful and provocative events (PPEs). Although there is robust evidence for a positive association between aggregate measures of PPEs and risk for suicidal behavior, little is known about the contributions of physical injuries. The present study investigated the relationship between injuries and risk of subsequent suicide attempt (SA).

METHODS

Data were from Swedish population-based registers. All individuals born in Sweden between 1970 and 1990 were included (N = 1,011,725 females and 1,067,709 males). We used Cox regression models to test associations between 10 types of injuries (eye injury; fracture; dislocation/sprain/strain; injury to nerves and spinal cord; injury to blood vessels; intracranial injury; crushing injury; internal injury; traumatic amputation; and other or unspecified injuries) and risk for later SA. Analyses were stratified by sex and adjusted for year of birth and parental education. Additional models tested for differences in the pattern of associations based on age group and genetic liability for SA. In co-relative models, we tested the association between each injury type and risk for SA in relative pairs of varying genetic relatedness to control for unmeasured familial confounders.

RESULTS

All 10 injury types were associated with elevated risk for SA (hazard ratios [HRs] = 1.2-7.0). Associations were stronger in the first year following an injury (HRs = 1.8-7.0), but HRs remained above 1 more than 1 year after injury exposure (HRs = 1.2-2.6). The strength of associations varied across injury type, sex, age, and genetic liability for SA. For example, the magnitude of the association between crushing injury and risk for SA was larger in females than males, whereas other injuries showed a similar pattern of associations across sex. Moreover, there was evidence to support positive additive interaction effects between several injury types and aggregate genetic liability for SA (relative excess risk due to interaction [RERI] = 0.1-0.3), but the majority of these interactions became non-significant or changed direction after accounting for comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders. In co-relative models, the pattern of associations differed by injury type, such that there was evidence to support a potential causal effect of eye injury, fracture, dislocation/sprain/strain, intracranial injury, and other and unspecified injuries on risk for SA. For the remaining injury types, HRs were not significantly different from 1 in monozygotic twins, which is consistent with confounding by familial factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Injuries are associated with increased risk for subsequent SA, particularly in the first year following an injury. While genetic and familial environmental factors may partly explain these associations, there is also evidence to support a potential causal effect of several injury types on future risk for SA.

Childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents: Moderated mediation effect of perceived social support and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies

BACKGROUND

Although previous studies have shown that childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for adolescent suicidal ideation, less is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation among adolescents, as well as the mediating role of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (maladaptive CERSs) and the moderating role of perceived social support.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional design, 4005 adolescents (Mage = 14.24 years, SD = 1.53; 49.0 % males) completed self-report questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, maladaptive CERSs, perceived social support and suicidal ideation, along with their basic information.

RESULTS

After controlling for gender, family location, family structure, and depression, childhood maltreatment was positively related to adolescent suicidal ideation, and maladaptive CERSs were found to mediate this association. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that perceived social support buffered the associations between maladaptive CERSs and adolescent suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings assist in understanding the mechanisms of maladaptive CERSs and perceived social support in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation and can provide new perspectives for researchers designing interventions for suicidal ideation.

Testing the interpersonal theory of suicide in adolescents: A multi-wave longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Suicide is a major public health crisis among youth. Several prominent theories, including the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS), aim to characterize the factors leading from suicide ideation to action. These theories are largely based on findings in adults and require testing and elaboration in adolescents.

METHODS

Data were examined from high-risk 13-18-year-old adolescents (N = 167) participating in a multi-wave, longitudinal study; 63% of the sample exhibited current suicidal thoughts or recent behaviors (n = 105). The study included a 6-month follow-up period with clinical interviews and self-report measures at each of the four assessments as well as weekly smartphone-based assessments of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Regression and structural equation models were used to probe hypotheses related to the core tenets of the IPTS.

RESULTS

Feelings of perceived burdensomeness were associated with more severe self-reported suicidal ideation (b = 0.58, t(158) = 7.64, p < .001). Similarly, burdensomeness was associated with more frequent ideation based on weekly smartphone ratings (b = 0.11, t(1460) = 3.41, p < .001). Contrary to IPTS hypotheses, neither feelings of thwarted belongingness, nor interactions between burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness were significantly associated with ideation (ps > .05). Only elevated depression severity was associated with greater odds of suicide events (i.e., suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations, and/or emergency department visits for suicide concerns) during the follow-up period (OR = 1.83, t(158) = 2.44, p = .01). No effect of acquired capability was found.

CONCLUSIONS

Perceptions of burdensomeness to others reflect a critical risk factor for suicidal ideation among high-risk adolescents. Null findings with other IPTS constructs may suggest a need to adopt more developmentally sensitive models or measures of interpersonal and acquired capability risk factors for youth. Refining methods and theoretical models of suicide risk may help improve the identification of high-risk cases and inform clinical intervention.

Racial/ethnic differences in adolescents' non-response to suicide attempt: Findings from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2015-2019

Racial/ethnic minority adolescents are at greater risk of attempting suicide compared to their White counterparts. Yet, racial/ethnic minority adolescents are more likely to not respond to questions on suicidal behaviors. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between race/ethnicity and missing response to suicide attempt among adolescents in the United States. Data for this study were obtained the 2015-2019 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 40,360). The outcome variable investigated in this study was missing response to suicide attempt and the main explanatory variable was race/ethnicity. Two hierarchical binary logistic regression models were fitted to examine the association between race/ethnicity and missing response to suicide attempt. Of the 40,036 adolescents, 13.4% had missing response to suicide attempt. Controlling for the effects of demographic factors and symptoms of depression, adolescents who self-identified as non-Hispanic Black had more than threefold higher odds of having missing response to suicide attempt when compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts (AOR = 3.62, p < .001, 95% CI = 2.45-5.34). Adolescent males and adolescents questioning their sexual identity had higher odds of having missing response to suicide attempt. Adolescents with depressive symptoms had lower odds of having missing response to suicide attempt. Missing response to suicide attempt among adolescents continues to differ by race/ethnicity and other demographic factors. The use of a single item in assessing suicide attempt history may be inadequate in capturing national estimates of adolescent suicide metrics.