Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Lifetime Suicide Attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey

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Abstract
THIS REPORT presents nationally representative data on the prevalence and risk factors of attempted suicide in the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS).1 The motivations are that attempted suicide is both one of the strongest risk factors for completed suicide2-4 and an important indicator of extreme emotional distress.5,6 Previous epidemiologic studies in the United States have estimated that between 1.1%7 and 4.3%8 of the population attempt suicide at some time in their life. However, no previous epidemiologic survey has investigated either trends in prevalence across cohorts or conditional risk of attempts in relation to the prior onset of ideation and plans or in relation to intercohort differences; these are a focus of the current report. This report also examines sociodemographic variables and DSM-III-R disorders as risk factors for attempted suicide. Previous research has documented that some demographic variables are risk factors for attempted suicide, including age,8-10 sex (reviewed by Moscicki11), marital status,12,13 education,8,13,14 race,13,15,16 and childbearing.17 In addition, several studies of adults14,18,19 and youth9,20-23 have examined the parallel effects of demographic variables on both ideation and attempts. However, no previous study has disaggregated these effects into influences on ideation, the transition from ideation to a plan, and the transition from ideation to an attempt either in the presence or absence of a plan. As shown below, insights gleaned from this disaggregation have useful implications for targeting preventive interventions.

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