Is low IQ Associated With an Increased Risk of Developing Suicidal Thoughts? A Cohort Study Based on an 18-Month Follow-Up of the National Psychiatric Morbidity Study
Gunnell D~~Harbord R~~et al
This study investigated the association of IQ, as indexed by the national adult reading test, with the incidence of, & recovery from, suicidal thoughts. An 18-month follow-up was done with 2,278 adults who took part in Britain’s second national psychiatric morbidity survey & who completed the reading test at baseline. There was no evidence poor performance on the reading test was associated with an increased incidence of suicidal thoughts over the follow-up period. However, among the 155 subjects with suicidal thoughts at baseline, those with low reading test-IQ were least likely to recover from them. This association may be because people with low IQ experience suicidal thoughts for more prolonged periods or because low IQ increases the likelihood of people experiencing suicidal thoughts acting upon them. (25 refs.)