Future Well-Being Among United States Youth Who Attempted Suicide and Survived

Citation

Tong, Bingjie; Devendorf, Andrew; Panaite, Vanessa; Miller, Rose; Kashdan, Todd B.; Joiner, Thomas; Twenge, Jean; Karver, Marc; Janakiraman, Roshni; & Rottenberg, Jonathan (2021). Future Well-Being Among United States Youth Who Attempted Suicide and Survived. Behavior Therapy. , PMCID: PMC9046683

Abstract

To what extent does a suicide attempt impair a person’s future well-being? We estimated the prevalence of future well-being (FWB) among suicide attempt survivors using a nationally representative sample of 15,170 youths. Suicide attempt survivors were classified as having high FWB if they reported 1) a suicide attempt at Wave I; 2) no suicidal ideation or attempts over the past year at Wave III (seven years after); 3) a well-being profile at or above the top quartile of non-suicidal peers. 75 of 574 suicide attempt survivors (∼ 13%) met criteria for FWB at Wave III, compared to 26% of non-suicidal peers. Wave I well-being levels, not depressive symptoms, predicted the likelihood of FWB at Wave III (OR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.05-1.44; p < 0.05). In conclusion, a non-fatal suicide attempt reduced but did not preclude FWB in a large national sample. The observation that a segment of the population of suicide attempt survivors achieves FWB carries implications for the prognosis of suicidal behavior and the value of incorporating well-being into investigations of suicide-related phenomena.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2021.11.006

Keyword(s)

future well-being

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Behavior Therapy

Author(s)

Tong, Bingjie
Devendorf, Andrew
Panaite, Vanessa
Miller, Rose
Kashdan, Todd B.
Joiner, Thomas
Twenge, Jean
Karver, Marc
Janakiraman, Roshni
Rottenberg, Jonathan

Year Published

2021

DOI

10.1016/j.beth.2021.11.006

PMCID

PMC9046683

NIHMSID

NIHMS1761817

Reference ID

9489