Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118 USA.
Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118 USA.
J Affect Disord. 2022 Feb 1;298(Pt A):464-471. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.006. Epub 2021 Nov 10.
Approximately 11% of 18-25 year-olds report thoughts of suicide. Additionally, suicide is the second leading cause of death in college student populations. We sought to evaluate the relationship between diagnosed mental health conditions and current symptoms of depression and/or anxiety and suicidality in the past year.
Healthy Minds Study (HMS) 2018-2019 data from 38,757 college students were analyzed. The PHQ-9, GAD-7, and prior mental health condition diagnoses were used to create a suicidality severity index and we determined how these associations varied by race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. We also assessed non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) outcomes in the past year.
Students with both a mental health condition diagnosis and current moderate/severe symptoms of depression and/or anxiety had a higher prevalence of NSSI, 10 times the odds (95% CI 9.4-11.5) of suicide ideation, 28 times the odds (95% CI 23.8-33.1) of suicide ideation, with planning or attempt, and 47 times the odds (95% CI 31.1-71.4) of suicide ideation, with planning and attempt, compared to students with none/minimal depression and/or anxiety symptoms and no mental health condition diagnosis.
We could not clinically confirm depression or anxiety diagnoses nor infer causality of associations in this cross-sectional study. Future longitudinal studies are needed to establish temporality.
Mental health condition diagnoses and moderate/severe symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were strongly associated with suicidality among college students. These findings identify potential opportunities to further understand and address the mental health needs of college students.
约 11%的 18-25 岁年轻人有过自杀念头。此外，自杀是大学生群体中第二大主要死因。我们试图评估在过去一年中被诊断出的心理健康状况与当前抑郁和/或焦虑症状以及自杀意念之间的关系。
分析了来自 38757 名大学生的“健康思维研究”（HMS）2018-2019 年的数据。使用 PHQ-9、GAD-7 和先前的心理健康状况诊断来创建自杀意念严重程度指数，并确定这些关联如何因种族/族裔、性别和性取向而变化。我们还评估了过去一年中是否存在非自杀性自伤（NSSI）的情况。
同时患有心理健康状况诊断和当前中度/重度抑郁和/或焦虑症状的学生，NSSI 的发生率更高，自杀意念的可能性是没有抑郁和/或焦虑症状且没有心理健康状况诊断的学生的 10 倍（95%置信区间为 9.4-11.5），有自杀意念、计划或尝试自杀的可能性是其 28 倍（95%置信区间为 23.8-33.1），有自杀意念、计划和尝试自杀的可能性是其 47 倍（95%置信区间为 31.1-71.4）。
在这项横断面研究中，我们无法对抑郁或焦虑诊断进行临床确认，也无法推断关联的因果关系。未来需要进行纵向研究来确定时间顺序。
心理健康状况诊断和中度/重度抑郁和/或焦虑症状与大学生自杀意念密切相关。这些发现为进一步了解和解决大学生的心理健康需求提供了潜在的机会。
