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Association of sociodemographic, proximal, and distal clinical factors with current suicidal ideation: Findings from a nonclinical sample of young adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2023

Błażej Misiak*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
Jerzy Samochowiec
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland
Łukasz Gawęda
Affiliation:
Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Dorota Frydecka
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
*
*Author for correspondence: Błażej Misiak,E-mail: blazej.misiak@umw.edu.pl

Abstract

Background

Accumulating evidence indicates that a variety of distal and proximal factors might impact a risk of suicide. However, the association between both groups of factors remains unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate the interplay between distal and proximal correlates of the current suicidal ideation.

Methods

A total of 3,000 individuals (aged 18–35 years, 41.7% males), who had reported a negative history of psychiatric treatment, were enrolled through an online computer-assisted web interview. Self-reports were administered to measure: (a) distal factors: a history of childhood trauma (CT), reading disabilities (RDs), symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), lifetime history of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), lifetime problematic substance use as well as family history of schizophrenia and mood disorders; (b) proximal factors: depressive symptoms, psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), and insomnia; and (c) sociodemographic characteristics.

Results

Suicidal ideation was directly associated with unemployment, being single, higher level of RD, lifetime history of NSSI as well as higher severity of PLEs, depression, and insomnia. The association of distal factors with suicidal ideation was fully (a history of CT and symptoms of ADHD) or partially (a history of NSSI and RD) mediated by proximal factors (PLEs, depression, and insomnia).

Conclusions

Main findings from this study posit the role of distal factors related to neurodevelopmental disorders, CT and NSSI in shaping suicide risk. Their effects might be partially or fully mediated by depression, PLEs, and insomnia.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
Figure 0

Figure 1. The mediation model tested in the present study. Results of data analysis are reported in Table 3.

Figure 1

Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of the sample.

Figure 2

Table 2. Results of binary logistic regression analysis.

Figure 3

Table 3. Results of mediation analysis.

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