title: Demographic, Behavioral, and Psychiatric Risk Factors for Suicide.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There have been very few prospective studies of death by suicide in the general population. Rather, studies of suicide have generally used psychological autopsies, a method that has the potential weakness of recall bias.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine correlates of death by suicide among a community-based nonclinical sample prospectively assessed years before death by suicide.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed data from an epidemiological study of a 10-year birth cohort (n = 4,914) conducted in Israel in the 1980s, with follow-up mortality data over 25 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight participants died by suicide during follow-up (6/100,000 per year; mean follow-up to suicide = 18.3 ± 2.0 years), the majority of whom were rated as functioning relatively well at baseline. Male sex, psychiatric hospitalizations, major depressive disorder, and previous suicide attempts were associated with later suicide.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this nonclinical sample of persons assessed between ages 25 and 34, several correlates of suicide were identified, but the majority of persons who died by suicide were relatively high functioning at baseline. Major precursors of suicide may be more proximal factors of acute or chronic negative changes in life circumstances.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.|7 Division of Psychiatry, University College of London, UK.
authors.forename: Nomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Werbeloff
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, USA.|3 New York State Psychiatric Institute, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Dohrenwend
authors.affiliation: 4 Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Itzhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Levav
authors.affiliation: 4 Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Ziona
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Haklai
authors.affiliation: 4 Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Rinat
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yoffe
authors.affiliation: 5 School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Large
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.|6 Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.|6 Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weiser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: psychopathology; self-harm; suicide