Psychosocial and psychiatric risk factors for suicide

Abstract

Background: Few studies of suicide have simultaneously examined the individual and combined effects of psychosocial and psychiatric risk factors.Aims: To do so in a representative sample of suicides.Method: A case-control psychological autopsy was conducted among 113 consecutive suicides and 226 living controls matched for age, gender, ethnicity and area of residence inTaiwan.Results: Five major risk factors (loss event, suicidal behaviour in first-degree relatives, ICD–10 major depressive episode, emotionally unstable personality disorder and substance dependence) were found to have independent effects on suicide from multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis.Conclusions: Effective intervention and management for loss event and major depressive episode among emotionally unstable subjects with a family tendency of suicidal behaviour, frequently also comorbid with alcohol or other substance dependence, may prove to be most effective for suicide prevention in different populations.