Psychotic‐like experiences are associated with suicidal feelings and deliberate self‐harm behaviors in adolescents aged 12–15 years

Abstract

Nishida A, Sasaki T, Nishimura Y, Tanii H, Hara N, Inoue K, Yamada T, Takami T, Shimodera S, Itokawa M, Asukai N, Okazaki Y. Psychotic‐like experiences are associated with suicidal feelings and deliberate self‐harm behaviors in adolescents aged 12–15 years. Objective: Psychotic disorders are a significant risk factor for suicide, especially among young people. Psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs) in the general population may share an etiological background with psychotic disorders. Therefore, the present study examined the association between PLEs and risk of suicide in a community sample of adolescents. Method: Psychotic‐like experiences, suicidal feelings, and self‐harm behaviors were studied using a self‐report questionnaire administered to 5073 Japanese adolescents. Depression and anxiety were evaluated using the 12‐item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Results: The presence of PLEs was significantly associated with suicidal feelings (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.2–4.5) and deliberate self‐harm behaviors (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.0–4.8) after controlling for the effects of age, gender, GHQ‐12 score, victimization, and substance use. Suicidal feelings and behaviors were more prevalent in subjects with a greater number of PLEs. Conclusion: Psychotic‐like experiences may increase the risk of suicidal problems among adolescents.