Lifetime Trauma and Suicide Attempts in People with Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

We examined associations among six forms of common lifetime traumatic/adverse events and lifetime suicide attempts while controlling for gender, psychiatric symptoms, self-injury, and substance use in 371 community mental health clients with severe mental illness. Most clients (88.1%) reported at least one traumatic event, and more than half had attempted suicide at least once. Regression revealed that three factors were significantly associated with lifetime suicide attempts: lifetime self-injurious behaviors, lifetime physical abuse, and alcohol use. Having been physically abused appears to be uniquely associated with lifetime suicide attempts when other key risk factors are controlled. Limitations include the cross-sectional design.