Self-harm as a predisposition for suicide attempts: A study of adolescents' deliberate self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 287; p. 112553
• Main Authors: Duarte, Tiago A., Paulino, Sofia, Almeida, Carolina, Gomes, Hugo S., Santos, Nazaré, Gouveia-Pereira, Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01.05.2020
• Subjects: Adolescents; Deliberate self-harm; Suicidal ideation; Suicide attempts; Suicide prevention; Suicide attempts; Deliberate self-harm; Suicidal ideation; Adolescents; Suicide prevention
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112553

•More than half of the individuals with deliberate self-harm present significant suicide risk.•There is a direct association between deliberate self-harm and suicide attempts, with more than nine in ten adolescents with suicide attempts also reporting deliberate self-harm.•As deliberate self-harm increase in diversity of methods so does the likelihood of suicides attempts.•Depression and anxiety appear as significant predictors of suicide attempts in adolescent self-harmers. The aim of this study was to analyze the predictive risk factors for self-harm in adolescents with and without suicidal ideation. 600 adolescents answered a questionnaire about self-harm and suicidal behaviors. A logistic regression analysis was conducted. Over half of the individuals with deliberate self-harm (DSH) presented significant suicide risk. There was a direct association between DSH and suicide attempts, with almost the totality of the adolescents with suicide attempts also reporting DSH. According to the prediction model, suicidal ideation and diversity of DSH behaviors are significant predictors of suicide attempts, with an augmentation in the diversity of DSH behaviors and suicidal ideation predicting suicide attempts. Depression and anxiety appeared also as significant predictors of suicide attempts in adolescent self-harmers. Considering that the majority of the sample was not from a clinical setting, an alarming finding was that one third of the total sample was at suicide risk. These results place DSH as a key variable for early intervention.