Autistic traits in adults who have attempted suicide

Richards, Gareth; Kenny, Rebecca; Griffiths, Sarah; Allison, Carrie; Mosse, David; Holt, Rosemary; O'Connor, Rory C.; Cassidy, Sarah; Baron-Cohen, Simon

Abstract

Background
An emerging literature suggests that autistic adults are at increased risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts, making suicidal plans and attempts, and dying by suicide. However, few studies have investigated whether autistic traits are related to suicidal behaviour. The current study examined autistic traits in a sample of adults who reported at least one suicide attempt.

Methods
An online questionnaire was advertised between June and September 2017 on suicide prevention websites, research databases, and social media. Participants reported whether they had ever attempted suicide (yes/no), and if so, how many times they had attempted (once/more than once). They also reported diagnosed and suspected mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions, and completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Two hundred forty-five adults accessed the survey; 132 reported having attempted suicide and also completed the AQ. It was hypothesised that AQ total scores and subscale scores would be higher in adults who had attempted suicide more than once compared to adults who had attempted once. These hypotheses were tested using an independent samples t test, Mann-Whitney U tests, and binary logistic regression.

Results
Most participants were female (83.3%, male = 12.9%, other = 3.8%), and ages ranged from 18 to 65 (median = 36.00; IQR = 19.00). Total AQ scores, as well as communication and imagination subscale scores were significantly higher in adults who had attempted suicide more than once compared to adults who had attempted suicide once. Even after removing participants with diagnosed or suspected autism (n = 34), 40.6% had an AQ score indicative of clinical concern (≥ 26).

Conclusions
The findings suggest that high levels of autistic traits may frequently be present in adults who have attempted suicide, and that AQ scores are higher in those with a history of more than one suicide attempt. It may be possible to better identify suicide risk by screening autistic adults with mental health conditions for suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and by screening people with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours for autism.

Citation

Richards, G., Kenny, R., Griffiths, S., Allison, C., Mosse, D., Holt, R., O'Connor, R. C., Cassidy, S., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2019). Autistic traits in adults who have attempted suicide. Molecular Autism, 10(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-019-0274-4

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 29, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 7, 2019
• Publication Date: Jun 7, 2019
• Deposit Date: May 1, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 27, 2019
• Journal: Molecular Autism
• Electronic ISSN: 2040-2392
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 26
• Pages: 1-10
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-019-0274-4
• Keywords: ASC; ASD; Asperger syndrome; Autism; Autism spectrum; Autistic traits; Depression; Mental health; Suicidality; Suicide
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2001691
• Publisher URL: https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-019-0274-4
• Additional Information: Received: 22 February 2018; Accepted: 29 April 2019; First Online: 7 June 2019; : Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee, University of Cambridge (reference PRE.2016.084). All participants provided informed consent before taking part.; : Not applicable.; : The authors declare that they have no competing interests.; : Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
• Contract Date: May 1, 2019