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. 2011 Oct;133(3):595-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.05.008. Epub 2011 Jun 11.

Does Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder increase the risk of suicide attempts?

Vito Agosti  1 , Ying Chen, Frances R Levin
Affiliations

Does Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder increase the risk of suicide attempts?

Vito Agosti et al. J Affect Disord. 2011 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To determine if Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a risk factor for suicide attempts.

Methods: Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Replication Survey (NCS-R), a nationally representative sample of adults (N=8098).

Results: Of the 365 adults with current ADHD, 16% attempted suicide. After controlling for the presence of comorbid disorders, logistic regression analyses revealed that the ADHD was not a not a strong predictor of suicide attempts; having one or more comorbid disorders was associated with fourfold to twelvefold elevated risk.

Limitations: The small sample size of respondents with ADHD who attempted suicide significantly reduced the probability of determining which specific comorbid disorders were correlated with parasuicide.

Conclusions: Early treatment of ADHD and comorbidity may reduce the risk of suicide attempts and improve its prognosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest.

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