Clinical and Social Predictors of Repeated Attempted Suicide: A Multivariate Analysis

Although the suicide rate in England and Wales is declining (Fox, 1970), the rate of parasuicide is increasing rapidly (Aitken et al., 1969; Stanley, 1969; Bagley, 1970). There is an obvious clinical interest in knowing the extent to which medical and other agencies can prevent such behaviour, or its repetition, and in being able to predict high risk individuals. Progress in the evaluation of the prevention agencies has been reviewed by Bagley (1971), and in the field of prediction a number of studies have been published using British material. These studies usually take the form of an examination of the traits and characteristics of a group of completed or attempted suicides, and follow-up studies are less common (W.H.O. 1968). The present study, so far as we can discover, is the first follow-up study which includes patients who were not seen by a psychiatrist at the time of their key attempt.