Traumatic events and suicidal behavior: results from a national mental health survey

The current study examined whether exposure to different types of traumatic events was differentially associated with suicidal ideation and attempts after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and presence of mental and physical disorders. Data came from the US National Comorbidity Survey Part II (N = 5877, aged 15-54 years, response rate: 82.4%) public use dataset. Interpersonal traumas and exposure to three or more types of traumatic events were particularly associated with suicidal behaviors. Age of onset analyses revealed that the age of traumatic exposure was earlier than the age at which suicidal behaviors began in the majority of respondents. The results imply that exposure to traumatic events is associated with the incidence of suicidal behaviors above and beyond the effect of sociodemographics, mental disorders, and physical disorders assessed in the survey. Clinicians and researchers need to be aware of these findings to determine early intervention programs.