Abstract
BackgroundSuicide is a leading cause of death in Australian males aged 18 to 55. Non-fatal suicidal behaviours and thoughts are indicators of increased risk for future suicide. Suicidal behaviour is complex and multi-determined. Research supports the involvement of stressful life events in suicide and suicidal behaviour, however the evidence regarding suicidal thoughts is less developed. This study investigates stressful life events in relation to suicidal ideation in a large cohort of adult males recruited into Ten to Men, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health.MethodsBaseline data from a national cohort of 13, 884 males aged 18–55 years on suicidal behaviour, psychiatric disorder and life events was used. Multivariable logistic regressions were conducted with current suicidal ideation as the outcome and 12 month life events, 12 month depression, anxiety and harmful/hazardous alcohol use, and socio-demographics as covariates. Further logistic regression models investigated the relative risk of life stress alone, depression/alcohol/anxiety alone and co-occurring life stress and depression/alcohol/anxiety.ResultsIn multivariable models there was an independent contribution to suicidal ideation for six of 24 life events (ORs 1.27–1.95), 12 month depression (OR 4.49) harmful alcohol use (OR 1.38) and anxiety disorders (OR 1.27). Life events co-occurring with depression (OR 10.3) was higher risk than either alone (depression OR 6.6; life stress OR 2.6). There was a lesser effect for co-occurrence in the anxiety and harmful alcohol use models.ConclusionLife events appear to be related to suicidal ideation independent of depression, anxiety and harmful alcohol use in adult males, however if life events occur in the context of depression that risk is substantially increased.
Highlights
Suicide is a leading cause of death in Australian males aged 18 to 55
Lifetime suicidal ideation was reported by 18.8 % of Ten to Men adult respondents compared to 11.5 % of males in the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB), and lifetime suicide attempts were reported at more than twice the rate in Ten to Men adult respondents (5.4 % compared to 2.2 %) [14]
The co-occurrence of life events and depression in the past 12 months resulted in an almost four-fold increase in risk for suicidal ideation over life events with no co-occurring depression, as well as a 35 % increase in the odds of suicidal ideation compared to depression in the absence of life events. While this elevated risk for suicidal ideation associated with cooccurring stressors and depression is consistent with a stress-diathesis model, our analysis indicates that life events plus depression does not fully encapsulate the stress-diathesis pathway
Summary
Suicide is a leading cause of death in Australian males aged 18 to 55. Suicide is a leading cause of premature mortality in Australian males and in 2013 accounted for 63,433 years of potential life lost [1]. In that year, it was the leading cause of death in Australian males aged 15–45 and the third leading cause in males aged. Suicidal thoughts and non-fatal suicidal behaviours occur more frequently than suicide, cause considerable morbidity and are a strong predictor of risk for future suicide death. Explanatory models have been developed to describe how these risk factors interact and the putative causal pathways for suicidal thoughts and behaviours. The diathesis is understood as a predisposition to think about suicide or engage in
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
