Divorce and risk of suicide attempt: A Swedish national study

Background: Prior research has reported an association between divorce and suicide attempt. We aimed to clarify this complex relationship, considering sex differences, temporal factors, and underlying etiologic pathways. Methods: We used Swedish longitudinal national registry data for a cohort born 1960-1990 that was registered as married between 1978 and 2018 (N = 1 601 075). We used Cox […]

Exposure to alcohol outlets and risk of suicidal behavior in a Swedish cohort of young adults

Background: Greater alcohol accessibility, for example in the form of a high density of alcohol outlets or low alcohol taxation rates, may be associated with increased risk of suicidal behavior. However, most studies have been conducted at the aggregate level, and some have not accounted for potential confounders such as socioeconomic position or neighborhood quality. Methods: In […]

Risk of suicide and self‑harm in university students entering different university programs: A national register‑based cohort study in Sweden

Purpose It is not known whether the elevated suicide risk in certain occupations, such as health care professionals, is partly attributable to a selection of individuals with prior vulnerability. We aimed to determine the risk of suicide and self-harm already in students entering different university programs. Methods We used national registers to identify 621,218 Swedish […]

Association of bipolar disorder diagnosis with suicide mortality rates in adolescents in Sweden

Importance The association of early diagnosis and management of bipolar disorder with adolescent suicide mortality (ASM) is unknown. Objective To assess regional associations between ASM and bipolar disorder diagnosis frequencies. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study investigated the association between annual regional ASM and bipolar disorder diagnosis rates in Swedish adolescents aged 15 to […]

Status of debtor registration at an enforcement authority and risk of nonfatal suicide attempt

Background: Not much is known about whether paying unpaid debt is related to a reduced risk of suicidal behavior. Aims: To examine whether nonfatal suicide attempt varied by status of nonpayment of debt as registered at the Swedish Enforcement Authority (SEA). Method: People aged between 20 and 64 years with a registration date for an unpaid debt at the SEA […]

Is it better to intermarry? Immigration background of married couples and suicide risk among native-born and migrant persons in Sweden

Marriage is protective against suicide across most populations, including for persons of different ethnicities and immigrant backgrounds. However, the well-being benefits of marriage are contingent upon marital characteristics—such as conflict and quality—that may vary across spousal dyads with different immigration backgrounds. Leveraging Swedish register data, we compare suicide mortality among married persons on the basis […]

Differences in all-cause and cause-specific mortality due to external causes and suicide between young adult refugees, non-refugee immigrants and Swedish-born young adults: The role of education and migration-related factors

Background International migration has increased during the past years and little is known about the mortality of young adult immigrants and refugees that came to Sweden as children. This study aimed to investigate 1) the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in young accompanied and unaccompanied refugees and non-refugee immigrants compared to Swedish born individuals; […]

Sexual orientation‑related patterns of 12‑month course and severity of suicidality in a longitudinal, population‑based cohort of young adults in Sweden

Purpose We assessed sexual orientation-related patterns in the 1-year longitudinal course (i.e., onset, remittance, persistence) and severity of suicidality. Method Data were obtained from a prospective, population-based cohort representing nearly 2.4 million Swedish young adults. Results A higher proportion of sexual minorities remitted (14.6%) compared to heterosexuals (9.5%). However, over twice as many sexual minorities […]

Psychosocial job stressors and risk of suicidal behavior: An observational study among Swedish men

Objective This study aimed to explore the relationship between psychosocial job stressors and suicidal behavior (fatal and non-fatal) among Swedish men while controlling for potential confounders. Methods Population-based Swedish longitudinal cohort study of male conscripts without previous self-harm (N=1 483 310) enlisting 1968–2002. Conscription examinations included measures of IQ, stress resilience and psychiatric diagnoses. Job demand–control (JDC) […]

Financial indebtedness and suicide: A 1-year follow-up study of a population registered at the Swedish Enforcement Authority

Background: Economic hardship is an established suicidogenic factor. However, very little is known about whether financial difficulties in terms of debt problems, specifically, is related to suicide. This would seem to be an important research gap, not least at a time when the repercussions of the global financial crisis are still being felt by many […]

The health and situation of young LGBTQ people in Sweden: What do we know and where is more research needed?

In this report, Forte – the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare – seeks to elucidate what we currently know about the lives and health of young LGBTQ people, and show differences and similarities in the experience of young lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer people. The report provides knowledge-based data, recommends […]

Suicide communication on digital platforms: A research review

The aim of this research review is to describe and exemplify research to date on suicide communication on digital platforms and to discuss the fears and hopes, advantages and disadvantages, as well as the risks and  opportunities that researchers in the field have pointed to over the past three decades. The review presents a number […]

Suicide rates in Nordic prisons 2000-2016

Objective To compare suicide rates of people in prison and the general population in the Nordic countries. Methods Data on deaths by suicide and person-years for people in prison and the general population were obtained for the Nordic countries during 2000–2016. Age-standardized rate ratios were calculated. Results The suicide rate in the Nordic countries overall […]

High suicide rates among unaccompanied minors/youth seeking asylum in Sweden

Background and aim: We aimed to assess rates and background factors of suicide among unaccompanied minors/youth (10-21 years of age) seeking asylum in Sweden in 2017, and to compare these rates with rates in the Swedish general population of the same age. Method: Data were collected and validated using information from four governmental agencies and two nongovernmental organizations. […]

Healthcare use before and after suicide attempt in refugees and Swedish-born individuals

Purpose There is a lack of research on whether healthcare use before and after a suicide attempt differs between refugees and the host population. We aimed to investigate if the patterns of specialised (inpatient and specialised outpatient) psychiatric and somatic healthcare use, 3 years before and after a suicide attempt, differ between refugees and the Swedish-born […]

Rural life and suicide: Does the effect of the community context vary by country of birth? A Swedish registry-based multilevel cohort study

Contextual factors varying by residence in rural or urban areas may have different effects on the suicide of residents by nativity, but evidence on the urban-rural gap in suicide according to nativity is lacking. This study aims to evaluate the effect of cross-level interaction between nativity and rurality of residence on suicide risk, at two […]

Suicide risk among native- and foreign-origin persons in Sweden: A longitudinal examination of the role of unemployment status

Purpose Prior research has documented an association between unemployment and elevated suicide risk. Yet, few Swedish studies have explicitly considered how such risk may vary by different migration background characteristics among persons of foreign-origin, who often experience diverse forms of labor market marginalization. This study examines the extent to which unemployment status may differentially influence […]

Life weariness and suicidal thoughts in late life: A national study in Sweden

Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the point prevalence of life weariness and suicidal thoughts and their relationship with socio-demographic characteristics in a population of older adults in Sweden. Method: Data from 7913 individuals aged 60 years and older were drawn from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care, a collaborative study in Sweden. Life weariness and […]

Impulsive suicide attempts among young people: A prospective multicentre cohort study in Sweden

Background We aimed to compare the prevalence of impulsive suicide attempts (ISA) among young adults and those over 25 who present at hospital in connection with attempted suicide. We also aimed to identify factors associated with ISA in young adults and to assess medical severity as well as the probability of repeated suicide attempts in […]

Economic stress in childhood and suicide thoughts and suicide attempts: A population-based study among adults

Objectives To investigate associations between economic stress in childhood and suicide thoughts and attempts. Study design The 2012 public health survey in Scania, Sweden, is a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study including 28,029 participants, aged 18–80 years. Methods Associations were analyzed in logistic regressions. Results A 12.1% prevalence of men and 15.5% of women had ever experienced suicide […]

Antidepressants and suicide among young women in Sweden 1999-2013.

OBJECTIVE: To establish whether the young women (15–24 year old) who committed suicide in Sweden (1999–2013) received antidepressant treatment or not, and to what extent, prior to and/or at the time of suicide. To investigate the belief that increased prescription of antidepressants would drastically reduce the number of suicides. METHODS: An analysis of data from […]

Always hard to absorb: Youngsters suicide from childhood adversity.

Suicide is a complex social issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year there are nearly 800,000 deaths from suicide worldwide (1). Among youngsters with ages from 15–29 years old, suicide is the second leading cause of mortality worldwide, and its incidence rate is increasing (1–5). Therefore, it is important to identify corresponding […]

Ongoing university studies and the risk of suicide: A register-based nationwide cohort study of 5 million young and middle-aged individuals in Sweden, 1993-2011.

Objectives To investigate the risk of suicide, unnatural death and all-cause death in university students compared with non-students, taking previous educational attainment into account. Design Open cohort study of all residents aged 18–39 and living in Sweden at any time between 1 January 1993 and 31 December 2011. Setting We linked data from national registers and calculated person-years […]