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Specific traumatic events elevate the risk of a suicide attempt in a 10-year longitudinal community study on adolescents and young adults

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Abstract

Traumatic events (TEs) have been associated with suicide attempts (SAs). However, the empirical status of some TEs is inconclusive. This also concerns community adolescents and young adults, known to be a high-risk group for SAs. We examined associations between (a) a range of prior TEs (physical attack, rape/sexual abuse, serious accident, and witnessing somebody else experiencing a TE) and a subsequent SA, and (b) the number of prior TEs and an SA, and (c) we estimated attributable proportions of SAs, in relation to each TE. Over a 10-year period, the Early Developmental Stages of Psychopathology (EDSP) study prospectively assessed community members, aged 14–24 years at baseline. Starting with 3021 subjects, each individual was assessed up to four times. Assessment was based on the Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Temporal associations were estimated using the Cox model with time-dependent covariates. Attributable proportions were based on the results of the Cox models. All four TEs elevated the risk for a subsequent SA, adjusting for confounders. Highest risk was found for the combined TE rape/sexual abuse. Results showed that 56–90% of SAs could be attributed to TEs in the exposed group; on the population level, attributable proportions ranged between 6.9% and 23.5%. Different TEs have been shown to elevate the risk of an SA in a young community sample. Our results suggest that both health professionals and health policy decision-makers consider specific TEs and the number of prior TEs as risk factors for SAs.

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Acknowledgements

This work is part of the Early Developmental Stages of Psychopathology (EDSP) study and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Project nos. 01EB9405/6, 01EB9901/6, EB01016200, 01EB0140, and 01EB0440. Part of the field work and analyses were also additionally supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Grants LA1148/1-1, WI2246/1-1, WI 709/7-1, and WI 709/8-1. Principal investigators are Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wittchen and Dr. Roselind Lieb, who take responsibility for the integrity of the study data. Core staff members of the EDSP group are Dr. Kirsten von Sydow, Dr. Gabriele Lachner, Dr. Axel Perkonigg, Dr. Peter Schuster, Dr. Michael Höfler, Dipl.-Psych. Holger Sonntag, Dr. Tanja Brückl, Dipl.-Psych. Elzbieta Garczynski, Dr. Barbara Isensee, Dr. Agnes Nocon, Dr. Chris Nelson, Dipl.-Inf. Hildegard Pfister, Dr. Victoria Reed, Dipl.-Soz. Barbara Spiegel, Dr. Andrea Schreier, Dr. Ursula Wunderlich, Dr. Petra Zimmermann, Dr. Katja Beesdo-Baum, Dr. Antje Bittner, Dr. Silke Behrendt, and Dr. Susanne Knappe. Scientific advisors are Dr. Jules Angst (Zurich), Dr. Jürgen Margraf (Basel), Dr. Günther Esser (Potsdam), Dr. Kathleen Merikangas (NIMH, Bethesda), Dr. Ron Kessler (Harvard University, Boston), and Dr. Jim van Os (Maastricht University). Dr. Katja Beesdo-Baum and Catharina Voss are currently funded by the BMBF (Project nos. 01ER1303, 01ER1703).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60/62, 4055, Basel, Switzerland

    Marcel Miché, Patrizia Denise Hofer, Andrea Hans Meyer & Roselind Lieb

  2. Behavioral Epidemiology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Catharina Voss & Katja Beesdo-Baum

  3. Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Catharina Voss, Katja Beesdo-Baum & Hans-Ulrich Wittchen

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Munich, Germany

    Hans-Ulrich Wittchen

  5. Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Andrew Thomas Gloster

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  1. Marcel Miché
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Miché, M., Hofer, P.D., Voss, C. et al. Specific traumatic events elevate the risk of a suicide attempt in a 10-year longitudinal community study on adolescents and young adults. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 29, 179–186 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-019-01335-3

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