Suicide Attempts in Anorexia Nervosa Subtypes

Objective: The risk for suicide attempts is elevated in anorexia nervosa (AN), yet we know little about the relation between suicide and personality in this group. We explored the prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts in women with AN and compared those who had and had not attempted suicide on eating disorder symptoms, general psychopathology, and personality both relative to a healthy control group and then across AN subtypes.

Method: One hundred four outpatients with restricting AN, 68 outpatients with purging AN, and 146 comparison individuals participated in the study.

Results: The prevalence of suicide attempts differed significantly across the 3 groups (P = .003), with 0% in the controls, 8.65% in the restricting AN group, and 25.0% in the purging AN group. Depression measures were elevated in those with suicide attempts. Within the restricting AN group, those who attempted suicide scored significantly higher on Phobic Anxiety, measured by means of the Symptom Checklist-Revised, than those who did not (P = .001).

Conclusion: The presence of purging and depressive symptoms in individuals with AN should increase vigilance for suicidality; and among restrictors, greater anxiety may index greater suicide risk.