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Factors Associated with Recent Suicide Attempts in Clients Presenting for Addiction Treatment

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Abstract

Factors associated with recent suicide attempts were examined in clients who sought treatment at an addictions facility between 2001 and 2008. Clients who reported being hospitalized for attempting suicide in the past year (n = 76) were compared to all other clients (n = 5914) on demographic, mental health, substance use, and problem gambling variables. Compared to all other clients, clients who attempted suicide were significantly less educated, and more likely to have major depressive disorder, a bipolar disorder, ADHD, a personality disorder, or a gambling problem. While mental health issues have long been linked with suicide, new research, such as the present study, continues to find associations between gambling and suicide. With the strong relationship between mood disorders and gambling, these findings support continued research into the possible connection between gambling and suicide.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre. Portions of the results reported here were presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Winnipeg, MB, June 2010.

Conflict of Interest

None of the authors in this study have any actual, perceived or potential conflicts of interest. The authors can supply a copy of the primary data upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada

    Alexander Penney, Dwight Mazmanian & John Jamieson

  2. Mental Health, Addictions and Problem Gambling Programs, St. Joseph’s Care Group, Thunder Bay, ON, P7C 0A6, Canada

    Nancy Black

Authors
  1. Alexander Penney
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  2. Dwight Mazmanian
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  3. John Jamieson
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  4. Nancy Black
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Correspondence to Dwight Mazmanian.

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Penney, A., Mazmanian, D., Jamieson, J. et al. Factors Associated with Recent Suicide Attempts in Clients Presenting for Addiction Treatment. Int J Ment Health Addiction 10, 132–140 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-010-9307-0

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