Clinical Characteristics of Suicidal Youths and Adults: A One-Year Retrospective Study

Vincent Besch, Christian Greiner, Charline Magnin, Mélanie De Néris, Julia Ambrosetti, Nader Perroud, Emmanuel Poulet, Martin Debbané and Paco Prada
Additional contact information
Vincent Besch: Clinical Developmental Psychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Christian Greiner: Unit for Investigation and Brief Treatment, Geneva University Hospitals, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Charline Magnin: Emergency Psychiatry Department, Edouard Herriot Hospital, 69003 Lyon, France
Mélanie De Néris: Unit for Investigation and Brief Treatment, Geneva University Hospitals, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Julia Ambrosetti: Unit for Investigation and Brief Treatment, Geneva University Hospitals, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Nader Perroud: Department of Psychiatric Specialties for Emotional Regulation Disorders, Geneva University Hospitals, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Emmanuel Poulet: Emergency Psychiatry Department, Edouard Herriot Hospital, 69003 Lyon, France
Martin Debbané: Clinical Developmental Psychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Paco Prada: Unit for Investigation and Brief Treatment, Geneva University Hospitals, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: Suicide is a major mental health problem, particularly during youth, when it is the second leading cause of death. Since young people at risk of suicide are often cared for by the adult health system, we sought to identify the specificities and similarities between suicidal youths and adults in order to further inform the potential need for adaptations in taking care of suicidal youths. For this study, we used the following data: mental disorders, treatments, previous hospitalization, and reasons for current hospitalization, that were collected from November 2016 to October 2017 among people hospitalized for a suicidal crisis in a specialized psychiatric unit. First, we compared the data from the youth group with those from the adult group, and then we tried to determine if there were any associations between variables. Analyses showed that youths were more similar to adults than expected. In particular, we found comparable rates of personality disorders (especially borderline) and relapse, and similar profiles of reasons for hospitalization in suicidal crisis. Remarkably, among youth, neuroleptics appeared to be associated with fewer hospitalizations for behavioral than ideational reasons, but with more relapses. Results of this study suggest that young people could benefit from brief psychotherapeutic interventions implemented for adults.

Keywords: young; youth; suicide; suicidality; suicidal youth; borderline personality disorder; psychiatric emergency; crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:23:p:8733-:d:450422

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