This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. In 1999 the Surgeon General's call to action for developing a national strategy for suicide prevention identified parasuicide as a leading risk factor for suicide which can be changed or modified to reduce risk of completed suicide (Satcher 1999). Parasuicide is defined here as all non-fatal, self-injurious behavior with a clear intent to cause bodily harm or death and includes both non-lethal suicide attempts and lower lethality behaviors such as habitual cutting or self-mutilation (Kreitman 1977). 30-50% of suicide completers have a known history of parasuicide and 20-25% have an episode of parasuicide in the year before their death (Gunnell 1994, Ovenstone 1974, Foster 1988). The lifetime prevalence of parasuicide in adult populations is significant, 4.3% in the Epidemiological Catchment Area studies and 4.6% in the National Comorbidity Study (Kessler 1999, Moscicki 1988). Adolescent lifetime parasuicide rates are higher, ranging from 3.5%-11% (Andrews 1992). Parasuicide is more common in adolescent populations than adult populations, but it is unclear whether some adolescents with frequent parasuicides resolve this behavior prior to adulthood or whether we will see rising rates of parasuicide in adult populations in the future. Prospective studies of groups of parasuicidal adolescents are needed to answer these questions.
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