Suicidal Ideation and its Recurrence in Boys and men From Early Adolescence to Early Adulthood: an Event History Analysis

Occurence & recurrences of suicide ideation were modelled among boys/men assessed annually from ages 12 to 29 years. Multi-spell discrete-time event-history analyses permitted determination of whether risk for suicide ideation escalates with prior experiences of suicide ideation while accounting for changes in risk with time & controlling for vulnerability factors. Period effects supported decreasing risk for suicide ideation over time. Spell & time-varying 1-year lagged substance use & depressive symptoms independently predicted increased risk for suicide ideation. Consistent with interpersonal psychological theory, risk for young men’s suicide ideation increased with past experiences of ideation, even with key propensities controlled. However, risk also decayed over time. (58 refs.) JA