Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026

The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients
Published on: June 12, 2020
Suicidal and self-harm behaviour associated with adolescent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-a study in the
Tuula Hurtig1, Anja Taanila, Irma Moilanen
1Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. tuula.hurtig@oulu.fi
Background:
Suicidal behaviour, i.e. suicidal ideation and suicidal acts, as well as self-harm behaviour, are relatively common among adolescents. Depression and/or female gender seem to be risk factors for suicidal behaviour. However, the role of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in these behaviours is still unclear.
Aim:
To study the effect of ADHD on suicidal or self-harm behaviour in adolescents from a general population sample.
Methods:
The sample was derived from a population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (n = 9432). Based on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present and Lifetime Version (Kiddie-SADS-PL) interview performed in a subpopulation (n = 457), the associations between suicidal behaviour and deliberate self-harm (DSH) and the diagnosis of ADHD were studied.
Results:
Compared with adolescents without ADHD (n = 169), those with ADHD (n = 104) had more suicidal ideation (57% vs. 28%, P < 0.001) and DSH (69% vs. 32%, P < 0.001). In binary logistic models, the effect of ADHD on suicidal ideation remained strong (OR = 6.1) after controlling for several other predictors. Other contributing factors in suicidal behaviour included female gender, childhood emotional and behavioural problems, concurrent depression and anxiety, and, specifically in DSH, behavioural disorder, substance abuse and strains in family relations.
Discussion And Clinical Implications:
ADHD is a risk factor for suicidal ideation and DSH. These findings in a general population sample speak for a need to target mental health interventions at children and adolescents with relevant symptoms of ADHD.
Related Concept Videos
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings.
Conduct Disorder
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and...
Self-Discrepancy Theory

