Year: 2008 Source: Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, v.76, no.1, (February 2008), p.84-91 SIEC No: 20080419

We examined sleep difficulties preceding death in a sample of adolescent suicide completers as compared with a matched sample of community control adolescents. Sleep disturbances were assessed in 140 adolescent suicide victims with a psychological autopsy protocol & in 131 controls with a similar semistructured psychiatric interview. Findings indicate suicide completers had higher rates of overall sleep disturbances, insomnia, & hypersomnia as compared with controls within both the last week & the current affective episode. Only a small percentage of the sample exhibited changes in sleep symptom severity in the preceding week but of these, a higher proportion were completers. (46 refs.)