title: Describing and Measuring the Pathway to Suicide Attempts: A Preliminary Study.
abstract: To die by suicide, one must think about suicide, make a plan, and then carry it out. Prior research has examined the presence and predictors of these outcomes; however, virtually no studies have characterized how these steps unfold along the pathway to suicide. A novel instrument was administered to 30 recent suicide attempters. Results revealed that although the median onset for suicidal ideation occurs 1 to 5 years prior to attempting, the median for 6 of the 10 steps measured was within 6 hours of attempting. Overall, 86.5% of proximal planning steps took place within 1 week of attempting and 66.6% occurred within 12 hours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6092-2857
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Millner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nock
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult