SynthesisTranslational psychiatry2016
Biological risk factors for suicidal behaviors: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Translational psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interoception in self-harm and suicide: a scoping review and meta-analysis.Nature human behaviour · 2026Pooled it
- Risk Factors Addressed in Programs for the Prevention of Child and Adolescent Suicide in the School Setting: A Systematic Review.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2025Pooled it
- Peripheral blood cellular immunophenotype in suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Understanding suicide risk within the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework: A meta-analytic review.Depression and anxiety · 2018Pooled it
- Molecular Mechanisms of Menstrual Cycle-Related Suicide Risk: A Selective Review of Promising Candidate Systems.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Understanding the emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescence from a brain and behavioral developmental perspective.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Ultraprocessed foods consumption, inflammatory index levels, and risk of suicide attempt: findings from a prospective cohort study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Time to take diet and mental health research seriously.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Peripheral biological correlates of suicidality in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.iScience · 2025Article
- Genomic links between symptoms of eating disorders and suicidal ideation.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Article
- The problem of suicidality, personality disorder, and treatment: an alternative psycho-social perspective.Research in psychotherapy (Milano) · 2024Article
- Immunological alterations in patients with current and lifetime suicide ideation and attempts: Examining the relationship with depressive symptoms.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- Unveiling Adolescent Suicidality: Holistic Analysis of Protective and Risk Factors Using Multiple Machine Learning Algorithms.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2024Article
- Embers of the Past: Early Childhood Traumas Interact with Variation inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Neural activity during inhibitory control predicts suicidal ideation with machine learning.NPP - digital psychiatry and neuroscience · 2024Article
- Suicide and its risk factors - An ecological study.Journal of education and health promotion · 2024Article
- Predicting suicidality in late-life depression by 3D convolutional neural network and cross-sample entropy analysis of resting-state fMRI.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Examination of proinflammatory activity as a moderator of the relation between momentary interpersonal stress and suicidal ideation.Suicide & life-threatening behavior · 2023Article
- Impulsivity in Major Depressive Disorder Patients with Suicidal Ideation: Event-related Potentials in a GoNogo Task.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Prior studies have proposed a wide range of potential biological risk factors for future suicidal behaviors. Although strong evidence exists for biological correlates of suicidal behaviors, it remains unclear if these correlates are also risk factors for suicidal behaviors. We performed a meta-analysis to integrate the existing literature on biological risk factors for suicidal behaviors and to determine their statistical significance. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, PsycInfo and Google Scholar for studies that used a biological factor to predict either suicide attempt or death by suicide. Inclusion criteria included studies with at least one longitudinal analysis using a biological factor to predict either of these outcomes in any population through 2015. From an initial screen of 2541 studies we identified 94 cases. Random effects models were used for both meta-analyses and meta-regression. The combined effect of biological factors produced statistically significant but relatively weak prediction of suicide attempts (weighted mean odds ratio (wOR)=1.41; CI: 1.09-1.81) and suicide death (wOR=1.28; CI: 1.13-1.45). After accounting for publication bias, prediction was nonsignificant for both suicide attempts and suicide death. Only two factors remained significant after accounting for publication bias-cytokines (wOR=2.87; CI: 1.40-5.93) and low levels of fish oil nutrients (wOR=1.09; CI: 1.01-1.19). Our meta-analysis revealed that currently known biological factors are weak predictors of future suicidal behaviors. This conclusion should be interpreted within the context of the limitations of the existing literature, including long follow-up intervals and a lack of tests of interactions with other risk factors. Future studies addressing these limitations may more effectively test for potential biological risk factors.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.