Background: Suicidality is a major concern for young adults. We analyzed which specific items of psychological distress best predicted suicidality in a nationwide population-based sample of young adults.
Methods: A random sample (n=1995) of adults aged 18 to 29 years living in Finland, was recruited to a health examination survey (Health 2011). We analyzed the total scores on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-13) among the participants (n=837). We assigned the participants having suicidality on the basis of two direct self-harm items on a survey questionnaire, and analyzed which of the items of the GHQ-12 were significant predictors of suicidality.
Results: The associations of the GHQ-12 items with suicidality were significant with the odds ratios ranging from 1.95 to 7.35. The strongest association of suicidality was with the item 11. In factor analysis, suicidality was loaded most strongly on the same factor together with the item 10.
Limitations: The definition of suicidality was based on two self-reported items.
Conclusions: Feeling oneself worthless was robustly associated with suicidality. It seems to be a strong predictor and could be used as a screening question for suicidality in clinical appointments.
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