Shannon Lange1,2, Huan Jiang3,4, Courtney Bagge5,6, Charlotte Probst3,7, Alexander Tran3, Jürgen Rehm3,8,4,9,10,11,12. 1. Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin St., Room T521, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada. shannon.lange@camh.ca. 2. Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada. shannon.lange@camh.ca. 3. Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin St., Room T521, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada. 4. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. 5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. 6. Department of Veterans Affairs, Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. 7. Heidelberg Institute for Global Health, Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. 8. Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada. 9. Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Toronto, ON, Canada. 10. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. 11. Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy and Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. 12. Department of International Health Projects, Institute for Leadership and Health Management, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors have been on the rise in the recent years in the US. There is a well-known link between heavy alcohol use/alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. An increase in the respective risk relationships is one way in which heavy alcohol use/AUDs may be driving the increase in the rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The objective of the current study was to investigate whether the gender-specific risk relationships between heavy alcohol use/AUDs and past-year (1) suicidal thoughts and (2) attempted suicide have increased over time. METHODS: Individual-level annual data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the past 12 years (2008-2019) were utilized. Year- and gender-specific multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were first conducted. Gender-stratified random-effects meta-regressions across study years were then conducted. RESULTS: Heavy alcohol use/AUDs were associated with elevated odds of past-year suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide for both men and women; however, a linear increase in the risk relationships over time was not found. CONCLUSION: Although a temporal increase in the risk relationships of interest was not found, until additional research in this area is conducted, heavy alcohol use/AUDs cannot be ruled out as being a driving force behind the increasing rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the US.
PURPOSE: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors have been on the rise in the recent years in the US. There is a well-known link between heavy alcohol use/alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. An increase in the respective risk relationships is one way in which heavy alcohol use/AUDs may be driving the increase in the rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The objective of the current study was to investigate whether the gender-specific risk relationships between heavy alcohol use/AUDs and past-year (1) suicidal thoughts and (2) attempted suicide have increased over time. METHODS: Individual-level annual data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the past 12 years (2008-2019) were utilized. Year- and gender-specific multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were first conducted. Gender-stratified random-effects meta-regressions across study years were then conducted. RESULTS: Heavy alcohol use/AUDs were associated with elevated odds of past-year suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide for both men and women; however, a linear increase in the risk relationships over time was not found. CONCLUSION: Although a temporal increase in the risk relationships of interest was not found, until additional research in this area is conducted, heavy alcohol use/AUDs cannot be ruled out as being a driving force behind the increasing rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the US.