Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Comorbidity patterns in adolescents and young adults with suicide attempts

European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The role of comorbidity as a risk for suicide attempts is investigated in a random sample of 3021 young adults aged 14–24 years. The M-CIDI, a fully standardized and modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, was used for the assessment of various DSM-IV lifetime and 12-month diagnoses as well as suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Of all suicide attempters, 91% had at least one mental disorder, 79% were comorbid or multimorbid respectively and 45% had four or more diagnoses (only 5% in the total sample reached such high levels of comorbidity). Suicide attempters with more than three diagnoses were 18 times more likely (OR = 18.4) to attempt suicide than subjects with no diagnosis. Regarding specific diagnoses, multivariate comorbidity analyses indicated the highest risk for suicide attempt in those suffering from anxiety disorder (OR = 4.3), particularly posttraumatic stress disorder followed by substance disorder (OR = 2.2) and depressive disorder (OR = 2.1). Comorbidity, especially when anxiety disorders are involved, increases the risk for suicide attempts considerably more than any other individual DSM-IV diagnoses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Received: 17 July 1997 / Accepted: 15 December 1997

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wunderlich, U., Bronisch, T. & Wittchen, HU. Comorbidity patterns in adolescents and young adults with suicide attempts. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 248, 87–95 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004060050023

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004060050023

Navigation