Correlates of suicide attempts in young people in India – a case-control study of persons admitted to a hospital in Pune
Abstract
Suicide attempts in young people in India are a major public health concern but the reasons for these remain unclear. The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with suicide attempts in persons aged 15–29 years in India. We conducted a matched case–control study at a public hospital in the urban region of Pimpri-Chinchward, Pune, between 2019 and 2023. 15–29-year-olds who were admitted to the hospital following a suicide attempt (cases) were compared with 151 outpatients who presented at the general medicine department of the same hospital (controls). We administered a comprehensive semi-structured interview to participants in both groups and analysed the data using cox regression models. There were eight factors independently associated with suicide attempts. At the individual-level, these were: clinically significant depressive or anxiety symptoms over the last two weeks, previous suicide attempt, impulsivity, and low SES; alcohol use was significant only for males. Among the social factors, lack of exposure to suicide-related information in the last month, lack of social interactions over the last 12 months, and presence of interpersonal negative life events involving partners or family in the last 12 months were associated with suicide attempts. Descriptive data on life events revealed several relationship adversities, and the importance of acute interpersonal stressors in precipitating suicide attempts. A range of factors are associated with suicide…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case-control, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
Read the paper
Related studies
- The neurocircuitry of addiction: an overview
- Gender Differences in Human Brain: A Review
- Stratified medicine for mental disorders
- The neurobiology of drug addiction: cross-species insights into the dysfunction and recovery of the prefrontal cortex
- Annual Research Review: DNA methylation as a mediator in the association between risk exposure and child and adolescent psychopathology
- Schizophrenia: The new etiological synthesis
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.