Recent psychopathology, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in households with and without firearms: findings from the National Comorbidity Study Replication.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between firearm ownership and possible psychiatric confounders of the firearm-suicide relationship.


METHODS
Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the association between living in a home with firearms and 12-month occurrence of major Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM)-IV disorders and suicidal behaviour among respondents to the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a household survey of 9282 adults aged 18+. Analyses controlled for sociodemographic characteristics including age, sex, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and poverty.


RESULTS
Approximately one in three Americans reported living in a home with firearms. People living in a home with firearms were no more or less likely than people in homes without firearms to have recent (past year) anxiety disorders (OR = 1.0, 95% CI 0.8 to 1.2), mood disorders (OR = 0.9, 95% CI 0.7 to 1.1) or substance dependence and/or abuse (OR = 0.9, 95% CI 0.6 to 1.3). Past year suicidal ideation (OR = 0.8, 95% CI 0.5 to 1.3) and suicide planning (OR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.2 to 1.4) were also not associated with living in households with firearms. Having made a suicide attempt over the previous year was the only outcome more common among participants reporting that they currently lived in a home without [corrected] firearms.


CONCLUSIONS
The previously reported association between household firearm ownership and heightened risk of suicide is not explained by a higher risk of psychopathology among gun-owning families. As there are Americans with suicidal ideation and/or significant and recent psychiatric disorders currently living in homes with firearms, future work should focus on understanding the impediments to effectively communicating the suicide risk associated with household firearms.
Miller
M
M
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. mmiller@hsph.harvard.edu
Barber
C
C
Azrael
D
D
Hemenway
D
D
Molnar
B E
BE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005389:Firearms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011599:Psychopathology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology