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Suicidal Behavior in Adolescent Girls with Eating Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

N. Semenova*
Affiliation:
Scientific Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Department Of Child’s Physical And Mental Health, Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation
H. Slobodskaya
Affiliation:
Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution «Scientific Research Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine», Department Of Child Development And Individual Differences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
E. Rezun
Affiliation:
Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution «Scientific Research Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine», Department Of Child Development And Individual Differences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Eating disorders are associated with suicidal behavior in adolescents. But the relationship between subthreshold eating disorders and suicidality is not well understood.

Objectives

To examine suicidal behavior in adolescent girls with eating disorders (ED) and subthreshold eating disorders (SED).

Methods

The study of 917 girls aged 12–17 used the Body Image and Eating Distress scale (Koskelainen et al., 2001) and questions about intentional self-harm (burns or cuts), suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts. Adolescents were divided into three groups: girls with ED (n = 20); girls with SED (n = 88); and control group (CG, n = 809).

Results

Self-harm was reported by 55% of girls with ED, 35.2% of girls with SED and 20.2% of CG girls (χ2 = 15.82, p <0.001). Suicidal ideation was reported by 65% of girls with ED, 51.1% of girls with SED and 27.2% of CG girls (χ2 = 21.86, p <0.001). Suicidal attempts were reported by 45% of girls with ED, 17.1% of girls with SED and 7.5% of the CG. There were no differences in the prevalence of self-harm and suicidal ideation between the ED and SED groups, rates of suicide attempts were 2.6 times higher in the ED group.

Conclusions

Girls with both ED and SED have a high risk of suicidal behavior: 2.7-4.5 times higher rates of self-harm, 1.9-2.4 times higher rates of suicidal ideation, and 2.3-6 times higher rates of suicidal attempts. Management of such adolescents should include assessment of the risk of suicide.

Disclosure

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant # 21-15-00033.

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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