Correlates of Suicidal Ideation Among an Elderly Depressed Sample

Clinical & phenomenological correlates of suicidal ideation were examined in a sample of 167 elderly depressed subjects. Bivariate results indicated that clinical variables associated with psychomotor retardation, a history of dysthymia, a previous psychiatric inpatient stay, & being a ‘younger’ elder were related to greater suicidal ideation. Multivariate analyses indicated that feeling guilty, sinful or worthless were associated with over 6 times greater odds of having suicidal thoughts.