Study: Suicide Risks Increases With Alcohol Use In Adolescence
Teenagers who frequently binge use alcohol are more likely to commit suicide in their 20s, a new study shows. The study suggests that adolescents admitted to hospital with alcohol-related injuries face a five-fold increased risk of committing suicide.
The findings also applied to those who required medical treatment from taking drugs, being involved in violence and self-harm.
37.3% of young British adults reported having engaged in binge alcohol use in 2016, latest official figures show, with females doing so the most often.
The study design
The study findings were published in The Lancet. For the study, researchers looked at anonymous data on more than a million adolescents over 15 years of age. All participants were aged between 10 and 19 and had been admitted to various A&E departments across the UK.
Those whose injuries were the result of drug or alcohol abuse, or violence of self-harm were twice as likely to die within the next decade. Youth in this group were also found to be five times more likely to commit suicide in the forthcoming 10 years. The exact suicide risk was found to be 7.2 per 1,000 for boys. However, for girls it was much lower at 2.5 for the same amount.
The findings reflect the widely known fact that men are almost four times more likely to commit suicide than women. Two thirds of all recorded deaths were attributable to suicide, drug or alcohol abuse, or homicide, the study showed.
It is well established that children who self-harm are at an increased risk of suicide. But the research points to that fact that the risk extends to a much broader group,” says Professor David Cottrell, from the University of Leeds, according to the Daily Mail.
Children and young people who suffered injuries through [alcohol and other drugs] or violence also faced an increased risk of suicide or premature death through alcohol and drug behaviors.”
