Differential Effects of Executive Functioning on Suicide Attempts

Suicide is common among individuals with psychiatric illness; executive functioning may be associated with suicide risk. The authors examined demographic, clinical, and executive-functioning variables in suicide ideators and suicide attempters, hypothesizing that attempters would demonstrate poorer executive-functioning skills. Seventy-seven participants with psychiatric illness completed a neuropsychological battery while hospitalized or residing in crisis-houses after expressing suicidal ideation (N = 40) or making a suicide attempt (N = 37). Logistic regression predicted suicide Ideator versus suicide Attempter status; suicide Attempters exhibited poorer inhibition but better problem-solving ability than suicide Ideators. Suicide attempt risk may be associated with better problem-solving skills, but worse inhibitory control. (The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2011; 23: 173-179)