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The association of specific stressful life events with subsequent suicide attempts: Longitudinal cohort study

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Aim The current study examined whether specific stressful life events were associated with an increased hazard of suicide attempt over the subsequent 24 months. Methods We used data from the [masked] Project, a three-year, prospective, longitudinal cohort study of Australian adults reporting recent suicidal ideation at baseline. Participants completed online surveys measuring stressful events, suicidal ideation and attempts, and sociodemographics every six months for two years. Data were analysed using hierarchical Cox proportional hazard regressions. Results One hundred and four (15%) of the 700 participants in the main analyses reported at least one suicide attempt within 24 months of the baseline survey. Before adjusting for prior attempt, severity of suicidal ideation, and traumatic events, baseline reports of experiencing serious illness, injury, or assault were associated with suicide attempt/s (68% increased hazard; HR = 1.68, 95% CI [1.08, 2.60], p = 0.021). Number of life event categories was also associated with suicide attempt/s in the unadjusted model (14% increased hazard for each additional category; HR = 1.14, 95% CI [1.03, 1.25], p = 0.011). Both of these effects were attenuated when accounting for lifetime suicide attempt and suicidal ideation severity. Lifetime attempt emerged as the strongest predictor of subsequent suicide attempt/s, with over four times the hazard of subsequent attempt compared to those who did not report a lifetime suicide attempt (p < 0.001). Discussion Experiencing a serious illness, injury, assault was a prospective risk factor for subsequent suicide attempts in adults with existing suicidal ideation, although this effect was not significant after accounting for previous attempts and ideation severity. It may be informative to investigate whether clinicians can use service users’ experience of such events to identify periods of higher risk and adjust treatment accordingly. Future research may also consider whether events that precipitate contact with health and/or social services can provide opportunities for targeted intervention among people not currently receiving mental healthcare.

Source: SSM - Mental Health

DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmmh.2026.100725