Diagnostic Morbidity and its Relationship to Severity of Ideation for a Nonpsychiatric Sample of Chronic and Severe Suicide Ideators

This study examined the relationships of frequency & type of psychiatric diagnosis to suicidality in a sample of 78 chronically & severely ideating college-age students. The most common diagnoses were depressive & anxiety disorders. Retrospective reports of childhood diagnoses were also quite common. Number of psychiatric diagnoses was significantly correlated with severity of suicide ideation. Results suggest severe suicide ideation may be a product of early psychological problems as well as the number of such problems. (20 refs.) JA