Testing the warning signs of suicidal behavior among suicide ideators using the 2009 National survey on drug abuse and health

Abstract

In order to help crisis counselors assess clients for their suicidal risk, in 2003 the American Association of Suicidology proposed ten warning signs, memorized through the acronym IS PATH WARM However, little research has been done investigating their effectiveness for predicting suicidal behavior The present study compared (1) suicide ideators with non-suicide ideator controls and (2) suicide ideators with suicide attempters on six of the IS PATH WARM warning signs, along with depression in the past year, marital status, and gender With regards to the comparison between suicide ideators and non-ideators, all variables but gender; abuse of alcohol in the past year, and anxiety in the past year were predictive of suicide ideation. However, when comparing suicide ideators who had not made a suicide attempt with those who had, only anger/aggression, depression in the past year, and marital status were predictive of a suicide attempt.