Self-harm and Suicidality Experiences of Middle-Age and Older Adults With vs. Without High Autistic Traits

Gavin R. Stewart; Anne Corbett; Clive Ballard; Byron Creese; Dag Aarsland; Adam Hampshire; Rebecca A. Charlton; Francesca Happé

doi:10.1007/s10803-022-05595-y

Self-harm and Suicidality Experiences of Middle-Age and Older Adults With vs. Without High Autistic Traits

Gavin R. Stewart^*, Anne Corbett, Clive Ballard, Byron Creese, Dag Aarsland, Adam Hampshire, Rebecca A. Charlton, Francesca Happé

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Suicide has been identified as a leading cause of premature death in autistic populations. Elevated autistic traits have also been associated with higher rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal self-harm in the general population, but this has yet to be examined in older age. Using baseline cross-sectional data from the PROTECT study, middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits (n = 276) had significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, and suicidal self-harm than an age/sex-matched comparison group (n = 10,495). These differences represented a 5- to 6-fold increase in likelihood for self-harming and suicidality. These findings, which remained when controlling for depression symptoms, suggest that middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits may be particularly at risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviours.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05595-y
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 2022

Keywords

Autistic traits
Older age
Self-harm
Suicidality
Suicide

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s10803-022-05595-y

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title = "Self-harm and Suicidality Experiences of Middle-Age and Older Adults With vs. Without High Autistic Traits",

abstract = "Suicide has been identified as a leading cause of premature death in autistic populations. Elevated autistic traits have also been associated with higher rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal self-harm in the general population, but this has yet to be examined in older age. Using baseline cross-sectional data from the PROTECT study, middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits (n = 276) had significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, and suicidal self-harm than an age/sex-matched comparison group (n = 10,495). These differences represented a 5- to 6-fold increase in likelihood for self-harming and suicidality. These findings, which remained when controlling for depression symptoms, suggest that middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits may be particularly at risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviours.",

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author = "Stewart, {Gavin R.} and Anne Corbett and Clive Ballard and Byron Creese and Dag Aarsland and Adam Hampshire and Charlton, {Rebecca A.} and Francesca Happ{\'e}",

note = "Funding Information: This paper represents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London; Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King{\textquoteright}s College London; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Exeter Clinical Research Facility; Economic and Social Research Council via the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership. The funders have had no role in the data collection, analysis, interpretation, or any other aspect pertinent to the study. The authors have not been paid to write this article by any agency. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or the ESRC. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1007/s10803-022-05595-y",

language = "English",

journal = "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders",

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AU - Stewart, Gavin R.

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AU - Creese, Byron

AU - Aarsland, Dag

AU - Hampshire, Adam

AU - Charlton, Rebecca A.

AU - Happé, Francesca

N1 - Funding Information: This paper represents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London; Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Exeter Clinical Research Facility; Economic and Social Research Council via the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership. The funders have had no role in the data collection, analysis, interpretation, or any other aspect pertinent to the study. The authors have not been paid to write this article by any agency. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or the ESRC. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Suicide has been identified as a leading cause of premature death in autistic populations. Elevated autistic traits have also been associated with higher rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal self-harm in the general population, but this has yet to be examined in older age. Using baseline cross-sectional data from the PROTECT study, middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits (n = 276) had significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, and suicidal self-harm than an age/sex-matched comparison group (n = 10,495). These differences represented a 5- to 6-fold increase in likelihood for self-harming and suicidality. These findings, which remained when controlling for depression symptoms, suggest that middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits may be particularly at risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviours.

AB - Suicide has been identified as a leading cause of premature death in autistic populations. Elevated autistic traits have also been associated with higher rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal self-harm in the general population, but this has yet to be examined in older age. Using baseline cross-sectional data from the PROTECT study, middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits (n = 276) had significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, and suicidal self-harm than an age/sex-matched comparison group (n = 10,495). These differences represented a 5- to 6-fold increase in likelihood for self-harming and suicidality. These findings, which remained when controlling for depression symptoms, suggest that middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits may be particularly at risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviours.

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Self-harm and Suicidality Experiences of Middle-Age and Older Adults With vs. Without High Autistic Traits

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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