Child and Adolescent Clinical Features Preceding Adult Suicide Attempts

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify the predictive value of juvenile factors for adult suicidal behavior. We reviewed clinical records to compare factors identified in childhood and adolescence between adult suicidal versus nonsuicidal major affective disorder subjects. Suicide attempts occurred in 23.1% of subjects. Age-at-first-symptom was 14.2 vs. 20.2 years among suicidal versus nonsuicidal subjects (p < 0.0001). More prevalent in suicidal versus non-suicidal subjects by multivariate analysis were: depressive symptoms, hyper-emotionality, younger-at-first-affective-episode, family suicide history, childhood mood-swings, and adolescence low self-esteem. Presence of one factor yielded a Bayesian sensitivity of 64%, specificity of 50%, and negative predictive power of 86%. Several juvenile factors were associated with adult suicidal behavior; their absence was strongly associated with a lack of adult suicidal behavior.