TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and predictors of persistent suicide ideation, plans, and attempts during college
AU - Wilcox, Holly C.
AU - Arria, Amelia M.
AU - Caldeira, Kimberly M.
AU - Vincent, Kathryn B.
AU - Pinchevsky, Gillian M.
AU - O'Grady, Kevin E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The investigators acknowledge funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA14845, Dr. Arria, PI) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Neither organization had any further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Background: Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students in the U.S. and is preventable. Approximately 1100 college students die by suicide each year. This study examined the prevalence and predictors of one-time and persistent suicide ideation, plans, and attempts reported during college. Methods: Data were gathered prospectively over four years. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1253 first-year college students at one large mid-Atlantic university. Risk factors were measured in Year 1. Results: An estimated 12%wt of individuals experienced suicide ideation at some point during college, and of those individuals, 25% had more than one episode of ideation (persistent ideation; 2.6%wt of the overall sample). Ten individuals had a plan or attempt during college (0.9%wt of the sample). Risk factors for persistent suicide ideation included low social support, childhood or adolescent exposure to domestic violence, maternal depression, and high self-reported depressive symptoms. Persistent ideators differed from one-time ideators only by higher levels of depression (p = .027). Persistent ideators were no more likely than one-time ideators to have made a suicide plan or attempt during college (8% vs. 9%, respectively). Limitations: Although the sample size is large, only a small percentage of participants had persistent ideation, suicide plans or attempts during college. Conclusion: These results have implications for programs aimed at identifying college students at risk for suicide. The accurate identification of college students at risk for suicide is an important step toward suicide prevention.
AB - Background: Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students in the U.S. and is preventable. Approximately 1100 college students die by suicide each year. This study examined the prevalence and predictors of one-time and persistent suicide ideation, plans, and attempts reported during college. Methods: Data were gathered prospectively over four years. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1253 first-year college students at one large mid-Atlantic university. Risk factors were measured in Year 1. Results: An estimated 12%wt of individuals experienced suicide ideation at some point during college, and of those individuals, 25% had more than one episode of ideation (persistent ideation; 2.6%wt of the overall sample). Ten individuals had a plan or attempt during college (0.9%wt of the sample). Risk factors for persistent suicide ideation included low social support, childhood or adolescent exposure to domestic violence, maternal depression, and high self-reported depressive symptoms. Persistent ideators differed from one-time ideators only by higher levels of depression (p = .027). Persistent ideators were no more likely than one-time ideators to have made a suicide plan or attempt during college (8% vs. 9%, respectively). Limitations: Although the sample size is large, only a small percentage of participants had persistent ideation, suicide plans or attempts during college. Conclusion: These results have implications for programs aimed at identifying college students at risk for suicide. The accurate identification of college students at risk for suicide is an important step toward suicide prevention.
KW - College students
KW - Depression
KW - Family psychopathology
KW - Social support
KW - Suicidal behavior
KW - Suicide ideation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2010.04.017
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2010.04.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 20471691
AN - SCOPUS:78149357622
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 127
SP - 287
EP - 294
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
IS - 1-3
ER -