Abstract
AimSuicide is a major public health concern worldwide. The present study explores the risk factors for suicide ideation and suicide attempt planning by analyzing anonymized data collected by a New Zealand telephone helpline.MethodA nation-wide helpline, Lifeline Aoteroa, provided data from distressed callers obtained from May 2017 to April 2018. The analyzed sample consisted of 32,889 counseling calls of clients with a wide range of presenting issues. Frequency analysis and multivariable logistic regression were adopted to determine risk and protective factors associated with two types of suicide behaviors: suicide ideation and suicide planning.ResultsRisk factors for suicide ideation and suicide planning included: hopelessness, sadness, fear, not coping with symptoms of mental health issues, mild/moderate severity self-harm, severe self-harm, urge to self-harm, alcohol and/or drug addiction, suicide in family, sexual domestic abuse. The adjusted odds rations for these risk factors ranging from 1.31 to 16.42. Protective factors included feelings of hope or joy, the opportunity to talk and, unexpectedly, feeling anxious or stuck. The adjusted odds ratios for protective factors ranged from 0.15 to 0.75.ConclusionRisk factors were identified for both suicide ideation and for suicide attempt planning. While some of these risk factors have been reported in existing literature, there are also risk factors unique to the present study that could inform and improve suicide-screening procedures administered by clinicians or helplines.
Highlights
The World Health Organization estimates that somewhere in the world a person willfully takes their life every 40 s [1], accounting for 1.4% of all deaths globally
Suicide ideation and suicide behaviors have been linked to a history of intimate partner abuse or childhood abuse [7], with the latter relationship mediated by mood and anxiety disorders [8]
The most endorsed presenting issues mirrored those reported for suicide ideation, albeit with generally lower prevalence’s
Summary
The World Health Organization estimates that somewhere in the world a person willfully takes their life every 40 s [1], accounting for 1.4% of all deaths globally. Suicide ideation is a common precursor to suicide and is highly correlated with suicide attempts [4], which in turn are potent risk factors for an eventual suicide death [5]. Non-suicidal self-injury (hereon self-harm) has been linked to suicide ideation, plans, and attempts [6]. Suicide ideation and suicide behaviors have been linked to a history of intimate partner abuse or childhood abuse [7], with the latter relationship mediated by mood and anxiety disorders [8]. A meta-analysis found that hopelessness, or negative expectations about the future, was a prominent risk factor for suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide completion [9]. Higher rates of suicidal ideation has been noted on those with chronic pain [11] or a terminal illness [12]
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