Prevalence of Suicidal Behavior and Associated Clinical Correlates in Patients with Behavioral Addictions

Eduardo Valenciano-Mendoza, Fernando Fernández-Aranda, Roser Granero, Mónica Gómez-Peña, Laura Moragas, Bernat Mora-Maltas, Anders Håkansson, José M. Menchón and Susana Jiménez-Murcia
Additional contact information
Eduardo Valenciano-Mendoza: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, 08907 Barcelona, Spain
Fernando Fernández-Aranda: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, 08907 Barcelona, Spain
Roser Granero: CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Mónica Gómez-Peña: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, 08907 Barcelona, Spain
Laura Moragas: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, 08907 Barcelona, Spain
Bernat Mora-Maltas: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, 08907 Barcelona, Spain
Anders Håkansson: Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22 185 Lund, Sweden
José M. Menchón: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, 08907 Barcelona, Spain
Susana Jiménez-Murcia: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, 08907 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-20

Abstract: Addictive disorders are characterized by severe consequences, including suicidal events, but most studies investigating the association between addiction and suicidal risk have focused on substance use disorders and gambling disorder at the expense of the rest of behavioral addictions. This study examined the prevalence and the associated clinical correlates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in a sample of patients with a diagnosis of behavioral addiction. The total sample consisted of 4404 individuals: 4103 of these patients with gambling disorder, 99 with gaming disorder, 44 with sex addiction, and 158 with buying–shopping disorder. All of them were assessed consecutively at a specialized hospital unit for the treatment of behavioral addictions. Participants attended two clinical interviews and completed self-reported questionnaires to explore clinical features of behavioral addictions, personality traits, psychopathological symptomatology, suicidal behavior, and sociodemographic variables. The highest prevalence of suicidal ideation was found in patients with gambling disorder (22.9%), followed by buying–shopping disorder (18.4%), sex addiction (18.2%), and gaming disorder (6.1%). The highest prevalence of suicide attempts was registered for sex addiction (9.1%), followed by buying–shopping disorder (7.6%), gambling disorder (6.7%), and gaming disorder (3.0%). Female gender and unemployment constituted two relevant sociodemographic factors associated with suicidal risk in gambling disorder, gaming disorder, and buying–shopping disorder. Lack of family support appeared as a relevant risk factor, except for gaming disorder. These results pointed out that suicide is a prevalent behavior in behavioral addictions, and clinicians and researchers need to pay particular attention to the specificities of each behavioral addiction when assessing suicidal risk.

Keywords: suicide; behavioral addiction; sociodemographic factors; personality traits; psychopathology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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