Alcohol Use and Suicidal Behavior in Women: Longitudinal Patterns in a U.S. National Sample

Abstract

Suicidal ideation among women drinkers was largely predictable from previous suicidal ideation, hazardous drinking, adverse childhood experiences, and domestic stressors. Higher rates of pre-1991 suicidal ideation among Latinas indicate a need for further study of ethnic influences on suicidality. Reduced suicidal ideation among women with past illicit drug use suggests that conclusions about such use from shorter-term studies may be oversimplified. Understanding women's suicidal ideation, as a precursor to suicidal actions, requires more detailed research on pathways by which hazardous drinking as well as combined distress from childhood experiences and adult domestic environments may increase women's despair and thoughts of suicide.