Suicidal behaviour during different phases of bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND: There are no previous studies comparing the prevalence and risk factors for suicidal behaviour during different phases of bipolar disorder. METHODS: In the Jorvi Bipolar Study (JoBS), 1630 psychiatric in- and outpatients were screened for bipolar disorders with the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. Using SCID I and II interviews, 191 patients were diagnosed with bipolar disorders (90 bipolar I, 101 bipolar II). Suicidal ideation was measured using the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI). Prevalence and risk factors for ideation and attempts during different phases (depressive, mixed, depressive mixed and hypomanic/manic phases) were investigated. RESULTS: There were marked differences between phases regarding suicide attempts and level of suicidal ideation. Hopelessness predicted suicidal behaviour during the depressive phase, whereas a subjective rating of severity of depression and younger age predicted suicide attempts during mixed phases. LIMITATIONS: The relatively small sample size in some phases. CONCLUSIONS: Suicidal behaviour varied markedly between different phases of BD. Suicide attempts and suicidal ideation were related to phases which are associated with depressive aspects of the illness. Hopelessness and severity of depression were key indicators of risk in all phases.     

Suicidal behaviour among primary-care patients with depressive disorders

BACKGROUND: Most national suicide prevention strategies set improved detection and management of depression in primary health care into a central position. However, suicidal behaviour among primary-care patients with depressive disorders has been seldom investigated. METHOD: In the Vantaa Primary Care Depression Study, a total of 1119 primary-care patients in the City of Vantaa, Finland, aged 20 to 69 years, were screened for depression with the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) questionnaire. Depressive disorders were diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), and the 137 patients with depressive disorder were included in the study. Suicidal behaviour was investigated cross-sectionally and retrospectively in three time-frames: current, current depressive episode, and lifetime. Current suicidal ideation was measured with the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI), and previous ideation and suicide attempts were evaluated based on interviews plus medical and psychiatric records. RESULTS: Within their lifetimes, 37% (51/137) of the patients had seriously considered suicide and 17% (23/137) attempted it. Lifetime suicidal behaviour was independently and strongly predicted by psychiatric treatment history and co-morbid personality disorder, and suicidal behaviour within the current episode was predicted most effectively by severity of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings and their convergence with studies of completed suicides, prevention of suicidal behaviour in primary care should probably focus more on high-risk subgroups of depressed patients, including those with moderate to severe major depressive disorder, personality disorder or a history of psychiatric care. Recognition of suicidal behaviour should be improved. The complex psychopathology of these patients in primary care needs to be considered in targeting preventive efforts.     

Suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts in a population-based study of Chinese people: risk attributable to hopelessness, depression, and social factors

BACKGROUND: The population attributable fraction of hopelessness, depression and other risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts in Asian population is unknown. Social support is often said to be a buffer against the effect of hopelessness and depression. METHODS: Suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts as well as demographic and psychometric data were delineated in a random and representative population sample of 2,219 Chinese people in Hong Kong. The population attributable fraction was used to determine the contribution of hopelessness, depression and other risk factors to suicidal ideation and attempts. RESULTS: Multivariate modelling shows that about 40% of suicidal ideation and attempts was attributable to depression and about 20% was attributable to hopelessness. Drug abuse and marital dissolution were also significant contributors to suicidality. The impact of hopelessness and depression was not affected by social support. LIMITATIONS: Suicidality was self-reported. CONCLUSIONS: Suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts were to a large extent attributable to depression and hopelessness, and, to a lesser extent, drug abuse and marital dissolution. Social support appeared to play little role as a buffer.     

Suicidal Behavior,Depression, and Hopelessness in Child Psychiatric Inpatients: A Replication and Extension

Examination of 55 consecutively admitted 6-to 13-year-old psychiatric inpatients indicated that 58% reported suicidal ideation and 40% had attempted suicide. Suicidal ideation was significantly associated with self-reports of hopelessness. Suicide attempts were significantly associated with both hopelessness and a diagnosis of depressive disorder, particularly major depression. Hopelessness and depression were highly correlated, and associations between Suicide attempts, hopelessness, and depression were accounted for partly by a group of hopeless depressed children. Thirty-six percent of suicide attempters had made prior attempts. This group of repeat attempters were older and had the highest rate of depressive disorders (75%). Whereas older (11- to 13-year-old) children tended to contemplate and attempt the same method, younger children tended to think of one method and attempt another, usually less lethal, method.     

Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients in Finland

BACKGROUND: The aim was to study the prevalence of, and factors associated with, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among child and adolescent inpatients during hospital treatment. METHODS: The target group included all the child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients (n=504) in Finland on a chosen day. Suicidality was determined by the psychiatrist responsible for the inpatient treatment, using a questionnaire also exploring demographic, diagnostic, and treatment characteristics, as well as traumatic events of the patient. RESULTS: The rate of suicidal ideation was 37.6%, and suicide attempts 10.8%. The factors independently associated with suicidal ideation in multivariate analysis were the following: being affected by open adult sexual behaviour (OR 3.2), having depression (OR 2.5) or conduct disorder (OR 2.4) diagnosis, and manifesting violent acts (OR 2.4). The factors independently associated with suicide attempts were: manifesting violent acts (OR 8.1), having depression diagnosis (OR 5.3), being affected by open adult sexual behaviour (OR 4.9), involuntary treatment (OR 4.7), and being of the female sex (OR 3.7). Suicidal ideation was particularly prevalent among boy patients having conduct disorders, manifesting violent acts, and belonging to the age group under 13 years old. Suicide attempts were particularly prevalent among depressive adolescent girl patients. LIMITATIONS: Suicidality was based solely on the clinician's evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts are common among child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Particular attention should be directed to inpatients who manifest violent acts or have depressive disorder.     

Agitated "unipolar" depression re-conceptualized as a depressive mixed state: implications for the antidepressant-suicide controversy

BACKGROUND: The nosologic status of agitated depression is unresolved. Are they unipolar (UP) or bipolar (BP)? Are they mixed states? Even more controversial is the notion that antidepressants might play some role in the suicidality of such patients (Akiskal and Mallya, 1987) [Akiskal, H.S., Mallya, G., 1987. Criteria for the "soft" bipolar spectrum: treatment implications. Psychopharmacol Bull. 23, 68-73]. METHODS: After excluding all patients with history of hypomanic episodes occurring outside the frame of a major depressive episode (MDE), even those with a shorter duration of hypomanic symptoms than stipulated in DSM-IV, the remaining consecutive 254 unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) private adult (> 21 years old) outpatients were interviewed (off psychoactive drugs for 2 weeks) with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-CV), the Hypomania Interview Guide (HIGH-C), and the Family History Screen. Intra-MDE hypomanic symptoms were systematically assessed, with > or = 3 such symptoms required for a diagnosis of depressive mixed state (DMX). Agitated depression was defined as an MDE with HIGH-C psychomotor agitation score > or = 2. Logistic regression was used to study associations and control for confounding variables. RESULTS: In this strictly defined unipolar sample, agitated depression was present in 19.7%. Compared with its non-agitated counterpart, it had significantly fewer recurrences, less chronicity, higher rate of family history for bipolar disorder, and DMX; and, among the intra-depressive non-euphoric hypomanic symptoms (in decreasing order of frequency), distractibility, racing/crowded thoughts, irritable mood, talkativeness, and risky behavior. The most striking finding was the robust association between agitated depression and DMX (OR = 36.9). Furthermore, patients with psychomotor agitation had significantly higher rate of weight loss and suicidal ideation. Of DMX symptoms, we found an association between suicidal ideation, psychomotor activation, and racing thoughts. Agitated depression was tested by forward stepwise logistic regression versus all variables significantly different in the pairwise comparisons, yielding DMX, talkativeness, and suicidal ideation as the independent significant positive predictors. LIMITATIONS: No suicidal ideation scale was used. CONCLUSIONS: Agitated depression emerges as a distinct affective syndrome with weight loss, pressure of speech, racing thoughts and suicidal ideation. Psychomotor activation and racing thoughts during MDD independently predicted suicidal ideation. In this "unipolar" MDD sample, agitated depression had a strong clustering of intra-episode non-euphoric hypomanic symptoms (i.e. DMX) which, coupled with its association with bipolar family history, support its link with the bipolar spectrum. Agitated depression is therefore best regarded as "pseudo-unipolar." These findings overall accord with classical German concepts of agitated depression as a mixed state. Given that these patients are typically activated along the lines of risk-taking behavior, Kraepelin's rubric of "excited (mixed) depression" appears to us the preferred terminology over "agitated depression". CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The data reported herein, placed in the setting of the literature reviewed in the discussion suggest that the reports of increased risk of suicidal ideation and/or behavior in some depressed patients treated by antidepressant monotherapy or combinations thereof might be attributed to baseline psychomotor activation/agitation as part of an unrecognized bipolar mixed state. Whether antidepressants induce de novo suicidality in MDD cannot be answered without adequately powered prospective double-blind studies, unlikely to be conducted because of ethical constraints. Nonetheless, we submit that agitated, activated, or otherwise excited depressions (which we consider as depressive mixed states) overlap considerably with the so-called antidepressant "activation syndrome." Furthermore, the rare occurrence of suicidality on antidepressants should not obscure the fact that the advent of the new antidepressants is associated with worldwide decline in suicide rates. We finally wish to point out that our formal nosology (i.e. DSM-IV and ICD-10), in its failure to recognize the bipolar nature of depressive mixed states, thereby fails to shield pseudo-unipolar patients from antidepressant monotherapy, which is inappropriate for such patients.     

Longitudinal trajectories and predictors of adolescent suicidal ideation and attempts following inpatient hospitalization

Remarkably little is known regarding the temporal course of adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior, the prediction of suicidal attempts from changes in suicidal ideation, or the prediction of suicidal attempts after accounting for suicidal ideation as a predictor. A sample of 143 adolescents 12-15 years old was assessed during psychiatric inpatient hospitalization and again at 3, 6, 9, 15, and 18 months postdischarge through a series of structured interviews and parent- and adolescent-reported instruments. Symptoms of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, externalizing psychopathology, hopelessness, and engagement in several forms of self-injurious/suicidal behaviors (i.e., suicide threats/gestures, plans, nonsuicidal self-injury [NSSI]) were assessed. Latent growth curve analyses revealed a period of suicidal ideation remission between baseline and 6 months following discharge, as well as a subtle period of suicidal ideation reemergence between 9 and 18 months postdischarge. Changes in suicidal ideation predicted suicide attempts. After accounting for the effects of suicidal ideation, baseline suicide threats/gestures also predicted future suicide attempts. Higher adolescent-reported depressive symptoms, lower parent-reported externalizing symptoms, and higher frequencies of NSSI predicted weaker suicidal ideation remission slopes. Findings underscore the need for more longitudinal research on the course of adolescent suicidality.     

Associations among depression,suicidal behavior,and quality of life in patients with human immunodeficiency virus

AIM: To investigate the potential associations among major depression, quality of life, and suicidal behavior in human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) patients. METHODS: A detailed MEDLINE search was carried out to identify all articles and book chapters in English published from January 1995 to January 2015. RESULTS: Based on the main findings, the prevalence of major depressive disorder(MDD) ranged from 14.0% to 27.2%. Furthermore, the prevalence of suicidal ideation varied from 13.6% to 31.0% whereas, attempted suicides were reported to range from 3.9% to 32.7%. Interestingly, various associated risk factors for both depression and suicide were identified in HIV patients. Finally, consistent associations were reported among MDD, suicidal ideation, and poor quality of life in individuals living with HIV. CONCLUSION: Although additional studies are needed to elucidate this complex association, our results suggest the importance of early detection of both MDD and suicidality in patients living with HIV.     

Incidental treatment effects of CBT on suicidal ideation and hopelessness

Background

Depression and alcohol misuse are among the most prevalent diagnoses in suicide fatalities. The risk posed by these disorders is exacerbated when they co-occur. Limited research has evaluated the effectiveness of common depression and alcohol treatments for the reduction of suicide vulnerability in individuals experiencing comorbidity.

Methods

Participants with depressive symptoms and hazardous alcohol use were selected from two randomised controlled trials. They had received either a brief (1 session) intervention, or depression-focused cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), alcohol-focused CBT, therapist-delivered integrated CBT, computer-delivered integrated CBT or person-centred therapy (PCT) over a 10-week period. Suicidal ideation, hopelessness, depression severity and alcohol consumption were assessed at baseline and 12-month follow-up.

Results

Three hundred three participants were assessed at baseline and 12 months. Both suicidal ideation and hopelessness were associated with higher severity of depressive symptoms, but not with alcohol consumption. Suicidal ideation did not improve significantly at follow-up, with no differences between treatment conditions. Improvements in hopelessness differed between treatment conditions; hopelessness improved more in the CBT conditions compared to PCT and in single-focused CBT compared to integrated CBT.

Limitations

Low retention rates may have impacted on the reliability of our findings. Combining data from two studies may have resulted in heterogeneity of samples between conditions.

Conclusions

CBT appears to be associated with reductions in hopelessness in people with co-occurring depression and alcohol misuse, even when it is not the focus of treatment. Less consistent results were observed for suicidal ideation. Establishing specific procedures or therapeutic content for clinicians to monitor these outcomes may result in better management of individuals with higher vulnerability for suicide.     

Diagnostic outcome of adolescent self-reported suicidal ideation at 8-year follow-up

BACKGROUND: There are few epidemiological data on the outcome of adolescent self-reported suicidal ideation. METHOD: Data from an epidemiological study were used to examine self-reported suicidal ideation in adolescence as a predictor of suicidal ideation and psychiatric diagnoses at 8-year follow-up. RESULTS: Suicidal ideation was reported by 41 (4.5%) of 912 adolescents aged 11-18 and by 19 (2.5%) of 795 young adults aged 19-26. Most parents of adolescents with positive self-report did not report suicidal ideation in their child. Suicidal ideation in adolescents and young adults was associated with other psychiatric problems. Adolescent self-reported suicidal ideation was not a predictor of suicidal ideation or any major psychiatric disorder 8 years later. In males, suicidal ideation in adolescence was associated with specific phobia at follow-up. LIMITATIONS: The sample of adolescents may not be representative of the general population. There were no outcome measures other than DSM-IV diagnoses. Suicidal ideation was assessed by only one item, both at baseline and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents and young adults with self-reported suicidal ideation had high rates of psychiatric problems. Adolescent self-reported suicidal ideation did not predict suicidal ideation or any major psychiatric disorders (i.e. depressive disorders, substance use disorders, or psychotic disorders) at follow-up.     

Depression and suicidality in HIV/AIDS in China

BACKGROUND: This pilot study examined rates of major depression and suicidality and their associations with daily functioning in HIV infected (HIV+) and uninfected (HIV-) persons in China. METHOD: HIV+ participants (N=28) and demographically matched HIV- controls (N=23) completed the Chinese Composite International Diagnostic Interview to determine lifetime rates of major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicidality. Current mood and suicidal ideation were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory-I. The impact of depression and HIV infection on daily functioning was measured by an Activity of Daily Living questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean duration of known HIV+ status was 2 years. Almost 79% (n=22) of HIV+ but just 4% (n=1) of HIV- groups reported lifetime major depression. Of the 22 HIV+ individuals with lifetime MDD, only one had onset before learning of HIV status. The remainder developed MDD within 6 months after testing HIV positive. In those HIV+ subjects who met MDD criteria after HIV diagnosis, only two (9%) had received depression treatment, yet four (18%) had persisting active suicidal thoughts. Depression and HIV+ status independently predicted worse daily functioning. LIMITATIONS: Representativeness is limited in this small sample of convenience. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study presents evidence of high rates of major depression and suicidality in HIV-infected persons in China. Despite this, few had sought mental health assistance, suggesting a need to increase awareness of psychiatric comorbidity and access to mental health services.     

Correlates of suicidal ideation in dysphoric mania

BACKGROUND: Previous investigations have reported that suicidal ideation and behavior are more prevalent during mixed than pure mania. Uncertainties exist about whether suicidality in mania arises from multiple concurrent depressive symptoms, or rather, as a categorical phenomenon, reflecting dysphoria without necessarily a full major depression. To elucidate the relationship between suicidal ideation and dysphoric mania, we analyzed clinical and demographic features associated with suicidal versus nonsuicidal dysphoric manic inpatients. METHODS: Records were reviewed for 100 DSM-III-R bipolar I manic inpatients at the Payne Whitney Clinic of New York Hospital from 1991-1995. All had > or = 2 concomitant depressive symptoms (other than suicidality). Affective and psychotic symptoms, past suicide attempts, prior illness, and related clinical/demographic variables were assessed by a standardized protocol. RESULTS: Suicidal ideation was significantly more common among dysphoric manics who were caucasian, took antidepressant medications in the week prior to admission, had histories of alcohol abuse/dependence, and made past suicide attempts. Suicidal ideation was evident for nearly half of dysphoric manic patients with < or = 3 depressive symptoms who did not meet DSM criteria for a mixed state. No individual manic or depressive symptoms other than dysphoric mood were more common among suicidal than nonsuicidal patients. LIMITATIONS: Findings from this retrospective study require confirmation using a prospective assessment. Treatments were naturalistic and may have differentially influenced hospital course and illness characteristics. Factors related to suicide attempts (rare in this cohort) or completions (not a focus of this study) may differ from those related only to suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: Caucasian dysphoric manic patients with past suicide attempts and substance abuse may have a significantly elevated risk for suicidality, even when full major depression does not accompany mania. Suicidality is a clinically important consideration in a majority of dysphoric manic patients.     

BDNF promoter methylation and suicidal behavior in depressive patients

Introduction

Suicide is a major health problem, and depression is a major psychiatric cause of suicide. Suicide is influenced by the multifactorial interaction of many risk factors. Therefore, epigenetic research may lead to understandings that are applicable to suicide. This study investigated whether epigenetic changes are associated with suicidal behavior and evaluated the treatment outcome of suicidal ideation in depressive patients.

Methods

In 108 patients with major depression, the promoter methylation of the gene encoding brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was measured. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics including a history of previous depressive episodes, age at onset, duration of illnesses, family history of depression, and number of stressful life events as well as subjective perception of stress and assessment scales for depression (HAMD), anxiety (HAMA), function (SOFAS), disability (WHODAS-12), and quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) were evaluated at baseline. Suicidal behavior was ascertained using a semistructured clinical interview with questions about severity and intent. Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS) was administered during 12 weeks of treatment with antidepressants.

Results

A higher BDNF promoter methylation status was significantly associated with a previous suicidal attempt history, suicidal ideation during treatment, and suicidal ideation at last evaluation as well as with higher BSS scores and poor treatment outcomes for suicidal ideation.

Limitations

Methylation status was investigated with limited area of the BDNF gene and sample size was relatively small.

Conclusions

BDNF methylation status could be a proxy marker for previous suicidal attempts and a clinical biomarker for poor treatment outcomes of suicidal ideation in depression.     

Predicting depressed patients with suicidal ideation from ECG recordings

Globally suicidal behavior is the third most common cause of death among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). This study presents multi-lag tone–entropy (T–E) analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) as a screening tool for identifying MDD patients with suicidal ideation. Sixty-one ECG recordings (10 min) were acquired and analyzed from control subjects (29 CONT), 16 MDD subjects with (MDDSI+) and 16 without suicidal ideation (MDDSI?). After ECG preprocessing, tone and entropy values were calculated for multiple lags (m: 1–10). The MDDSI+ group was found to have a higher mean tone value compared to that of the MDDSI? group for lags 1–8, whereas the mean entropy value was lower in MDDSI+ than that in CONT group at all lags (1–10). Leave-one-out cross-validation tests, using a classification and regression tree (CART), obtained 94.83 % accuracy in predicting MDDSI+ subjects by using a combination of tone and entropy values at all lags and including demographic factors (age, BMI and waist circumference) compared to results with time and frequency domain HRV analysis. The results of this pilot study demonstrate the usefulness of multi-lag T–E analysis in identifying MDD patients with suicidal ideation and highlight the change in autonomic nervous system modulation of the heart rate associated with depression and suicidal ideation.     

A compact VEGF signature associated with distant metastases and poor outcomes

Background

Suicidal thoughts and behaviours during antidepressant treatment, especially during the first weeks of treatment, have prompted warnings by regulatory bodies. The aim of the present study is to investigate the course and predictors of emergence and worsening of suicidal ideation during tricyclic antidepressant and serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment.

Methods

In a multicentre part-randomised open-label study, 811 adult patients with moderate to severe unipolar depression were allocated to flexible dosage of escitalopram or nortriptyline for 12 weeks. The suicidality items of three standard measures were integrated in a suicidal ideation score. Increases in this score were classified as treatment emergent suicidal ideation (TESI) or treatment worsening suicidal ideation (TWOSI) according to the absence or presence of suicidal ideation at baseline.

Results

Suicidal ideation decreased during antidepressant treatment. Rates of TESI and TWOSI peaked in the fifth week. Severity of depression predicted TESI and TWOSI. In men, nortriptyline was associated with a 9.8-fold and 2.4-fold increase in TESI and TWOSI compared to escitalopram, respectively. Retirement and history of suicide attempts predicted TWOSI.

Conclusion

Increases in suicidal ideation were associated with depression severity and decreased during antidepressant treatment. In men, treatment with escitalopram is associated with lower risk of suicidal ideation compared to nortriptyline. Clinicians should remain alert to suicidal ideation beyond the initial weeks of antidepressant treatment.

Trial registration

EudraCT (No.2004-001723-38) and ISRCTN (No. 03693000).     

In severely suicidal young adults, hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation constitute a single syndrome

BACKGROUND: Despite voluminous research on the role of hopelessness and depression in suicidality, a systematic examination of various causal models pertaining to these variables is conspicuous in its absence. METHOD: The directions of relationships between the three variables were examined by means of a prospective-longitudinal, cross-lagged, three-wave design in a severely suicidal young adults. RESULTS: Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses revealed synchronous, but not longitudinal, associations between hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: In severely suicidal young adults, the three clinical constructs appear to constitute a single depressive syndrome.     

Does comorbid Social Anxiety Disorder impact the clinical presentation of principal Major Depressive Disorder?

BACKGROUND: Although previous research has examined comorbidity in principal Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), few studies have examined the disorders for which those with comorbid SAD seek treatment. Further, studies have shown that depressive disorders often are associated with SAD, but few have examined the clinical characteristics of patients with this particular comorbidity. METHOD: The current study examined the prevalence of various principal Axis I disorders in 577 individuals diagnosed with comorbid SAD. RESULTS: Consistent with previous research, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) was the most frequent principal diagnosis in patients with comorbid SAD. Those with principal MDD and comorbid SAD (MDD-SAD) were compared to those with MDD without SAD (MDD) on demographic and clinical characteristics. Patients with MDD-SAD versus those with MDD were more severe in terms of social functioning, duration of depressive episode, suicidal ideation, time out of work, presence of current alcohol abuse/dependence, and age of onset of MDD. Social functioning, duration of episode, suicidal ideation, and age of onset of MDD remained significant even after controlling for additional comorbid disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest the need for future research to determine how treatments could be adapted for this commonly occurring comorbidity.     

Predicting time to recovery among depressed adolescents treated in two psychosocial group interventions

Aims were to identify the demographic, psychopathology, and psychosocial factors predicting time to major depressive disorder (MDD) recovery and moderators of treatment among 114 depressed adolescents recruited from a juvenile justice center and randomized to a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) condition or a life skills-tutoring control condition. Nine variables predicted time to recovery over 1-year follow-up (e.g., earlier MDD onset, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, functional impairment, hopelessness, negative thoughts, low family cohesion, coping skills); suicidal ideation and parental report of problem behaviors were the best predictors. CBT resulted in faster recovery time relative to control treatment, specifically among adolescents of White ethnicity, with recurrent MDD, and with good coping skills. Results suggest that psychopathology plays a more prominent role in maintaining adolescent depression than demographic or psychosocial factors.     

Suicidal ideation in pregnancy: an epidemiologic review

Suicidal behaviors are the leading causes of injury and death worldwide, and are leading causes of maternal deaths in some countries. One of the strongest risk factors, suicidal ideation, is considered a harbinger and distal predictor of later suicide attempt and completion, and also presents an opportunity for interventions prior to physical self-harm. The purpose of this systematic epidemiologic review is to synthesize available research on antepartum suicidal ideation. Original publications were identified through searches of the electronic databases using the search terms pregnancy, pregnant women, suicidal ideation, and pregnan* and suicid* as root searches. We also reviewed references of published articles. We identified a total of 2626 articles through the electronic database search. After irrelevant and redundant articles were excluded, 57 articles were selected. The selected articles were original articles that focused on pregnancy and suicidal ideation. Of the 57 included articles, 20 reported prevalence, 26 reported risk factors, 21 reported consequences of antepartum suicidal ideation, and 5 reported on screening measures. Available evidence indicates that pregnant women are more likely than the general population to endorse suicidal ideation. Additionally, a number of risk factors for antepartum suicidal ideation were identified including intimate partner violence, <12-year education, and major depressive disorder. There is a need for enhanced screening for antepartum suicidal ideation. The few screening instruments that exist are limited as they were primarily developed to measure antepartum and postpartum depression. Given a substantial proportion of women with suicidal ideation that does not meet clinical thresholds of depression and given the stress–diathesis model that shows susceptibility to suicidal behavior independent of depressive disorders, innovative approaches to improve screening and detection of antepartum suicidal ideation are urgently needed.     

Predictors of Continued Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents Following a Suicide Attempt

Describes adolescents who attempt suicide and their risk for ongoing suicidal behavior. Fifty-eight adolescents (53 female) who attempted suicide received a baseline evaluation that was analyzed to identify factors that were associated with continued suicidal ideation and reattempt. At a 3-month follow-up assessment, 45% reported continued suicidal ideation and 12% reported a repeat attempt. Baseline measures of family functioning, feelings of hopelessness, and abilities to regulate affect were associated with suicidal ideation at follow-up but not as strongly as depressed mood. After controlling for depressive symptoms, the association between family functioning and continued suicidal behavior was no longer significant. Depressed mood at baseline was most strongly associated with both continued suicidal ideation and reattempt.