Health-Risk Behaviors and Suicidal Ideation: a Preliminary Study of Cognitive and Developmental Factors

Relationships among suicide ideation, health-related attitudes & behaviors, & adverse childhood events were examined. 318 college students completed surveys covering health risk behaviours, depression, suicide ideation, & health-related attitudes. Results supported the hypothesized associations among these variables. However, contrary to the hypotheses, the association between suicide ideation & health-compromising behaviours was limited largely to substance-related behaviours. Results are less suggestive of the notion of unhealthy behaviours as subtle suicidality than a mode in which suicidality associates specifically with psychopathological states. (28 refs.)