Nonsuicidal self-injury is predictive of suicide attempts among individuals with mood disorders.

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) prior to age 18 was evaluated as a risk factor for adulthood suicide attempt (SA). Archival data from 222 mood-disordered participants were analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis. Participants with a youth SA were excluded. The hazards of SA among adult participants with a history of youth NSSI were twice than those of mood-disordered participants without youth NSSI (hazard ratio = 2.00, 95% confidence interval = 1.16–3.44, p = .01). Moreover, participants who had both youth and adult NSSI attempted suicide significantly earlier than participants who began NSSI as an adult. Youth NSSI is associated with persistent, elevated SA risk in adulthood.