Correlates of suicidal ideation among an elderly depressed sample.
BACKGROUND: Suicidal ideation has been shown to be strongly associated with suicide completion and elders take their own lives more than any other age group. METHODS: The present study examined clinical and phenomenological correlates of suicidal ideation among an elderly sample (n = 167) derived from subjects enrolled in the Duke Clinical Research Center for the Study of Depression in Late Life. RESULTS: Bivariate results indicated that clinical variables associated with psychomotor retardation, a history of dysthymia, a previous psychiatric in-patient stay, and being a 'younger' elder were related to greater suicidal ideation. Multivariate analyses indicated that feeling guilty, sinful, or worthless was associated with over six times greater odds of having suicidal thoughts. LIMITATIONS: Findings are based on correlational analyses, and thus, the direction of causality cannot be inferred. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for clinicians of some of the 'red flags' associated with the presence of suicidal ideation among depressed older adults.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Suicide, Attempted
- Self Concept
- Risk Assessment
- Psychiatry
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Humans
- Female
- Depressive Disorder
- Cognition
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Suicide, Attempted
- Self Concept
- Risk Assessment
- Psychiatry
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Humans
- Female
- Depressive Disorder
- Cognition