Relationships among suicide ideators, attempters, and multiple attempters in a young-adult sample

The relationships among suicide ideators, attempters, and multiple attempters were explored in 332 psychiatric patients referred specifically for suicidal ideation or behavior. Previous researchers have subsumed multiple attempters under the general category of attempters. However, comparisons across a range of variables, including Axis I diagnoses from the revised 3rd edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) depressive and anxiety symptoms, suicidal ideation, hopelessness, problem solving, and a range of personality features revealed that multiple attempters presented a more severe clinical picture and, accordingly, elevated suicide risk compared with attempters and ideators. Observed differences between groups were maintained when attempters with ''questionable intent'' (i.e., those making equivocal attempts) were excluded from the analyses.