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. 2022 Aug;57(8):1591-1601.
doi: 10.1007/s00127-021-02151-4. Epub 2021 Aug 23.

Childhood adversities and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among first-year college students: results from the WMH-ICS initiative

Philippe Mortier  1   2   3 , Jordi Alonso  4   5   6 , Randy P Auerbach  7 , Jason Bantjes  8 , Corina Benjet  9 , Ronny Bruffaerts  10   11 , Pim Cuijpers  12 , David D Ebert  12 , Jennifer Greif Green  13 , Penelope Hasking  14 , Eirini Karyotaki  12 , Glenn Kiekens  10   15   16 , Arthur Mak  17 , Matthew K Nock  18 , Siobhan O'Neill  19 , Stephanie Pinder-Amaker  20   21 , Nancy A Sampson  22 , Dan J Stein  23 , Gemma Vilagut  4   5 , Chelsey Wilks  24 , Alan M Zaslavsky  22 , Patrick Mair  18 , Ronald C Kessler  22 ; WHO WMH-ICS Collaborators
Collaborators, Affiliations

Childhood adversities and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among first-year college students: results from the WMH-ICS initiative

Philippe Mortier et al. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the associations of childhood adversities (CAs) with lifetime onset and transitions across suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) among incoming college students.

Methods: Web-based self-report surveys administered to 20,842 incoming college students from nine countries (response rate 45.6%) assessed lifetime suicidal ideation, plans and attempts along with seven CAs: parental psychopathology, three types of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), neglect, bully victimization, and dating violence. Logistic regression estimated individual- and population-level associations using CA operationalizations for type, number, severity, and frequency.

Results: Associations of CAs with lifetime ideation and the transition from ideation to plan were best explained by the exact number of CA types (OR range 1.32-52.30 for exactly two to seven CAs). Associations of CAs with a transition to attempts were best explained by the frequency of specific CA types (scaled 0-4). Attempts among ideators with a plan were significantly associated with all seven CAs (OR range 1.16-1.59) and associations remained significant in adjusted analyses with the frequency of sexual abuse (OR = 1.42), dating violence (OR = 1.29), physical abuse (OR = 1.17) and bully victimization (OR = 1.17). Attempts among ideators without plan were significantly associated with frequency of emotional abuse (OR = 1.29) and bully victimization (OR = 1.36), in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses. Population attributable risk simulations found 63% of ideation and 30-47% of STB transitions associated with CAs.

Conclusion: Early-life adversities represent a potentially important driver in explaining lifetime STB among incoming college students. Comprehensive intervention strategies that prevent or reduce the negative effects of CAs may reduce subsequent onset of STB.

Keywords: Childhood adversity; College students; Multivariate models; Population-attributable risk; Suicidal ideation; Suicide attempt.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest. Dr. Auerbach serves on the scientific advisory board for Ksana Health. Dr. Ebert reports to have received consultancy fees/served on the scientific advisory board for Sanofi, Novartis, Minddistrict, Lantern, Schoen Kliniken, and two German health insurance companies (BARMER, Techniker Krankenkasse). He is also a stakeholder in the Institute for health training online (GET.ON), which aims to implement scientific findings related to digital health interventions into routine care. Dr. Wilks receives consultation fees from Mindstrong Health and Click Therapeutics. In the past 3 years, Dr. Kessler was a consultant for Datastat, Inc., Holmusk, RallyPoint Networks, Inc., and Sage Therapeutics. He has stock options in Mirah, PYM, and Roga Sciences.

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