SynthesisPloS one2017
Demographics as predictors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled 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
- Association of Self-Compassion With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors and Non-suicidal Self Injury: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Pooled it
- A direct comparison of theory-driven and machine learning prediction of suicide: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Determinants of Suicidality in the European General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Correlates of suicide ideation and behaviors among transgender people: A systematic review guided by ideation-to-action theory.Clinical psychology review · 2018Pooled it
- Identifying key risk factors for intentional self-harm, including suicide, among a cohort of people prescribed opioid agonist treatment: A predictive modelling study.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Observational
- Momentary state anhedonia is associated with the quantity and quality of daily-life peer experiences among adolescents at varying risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Suicidal Ideation Among Persons With Psychiatric Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study at Outpatient Clinics in Iraq.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide: evidence from South Korea.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Role of Despair in Predicting Self-Destructive Behaviors.Population research and policy review · 2025Article
- Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and Risk for Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors in U.S. Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes : A Target Trial Emulation Study.Annals of internal medicine · 2024Article
- Thwarted Belongingness and Suicide Risk in Primary Care: Perceived Burdensomeness and Psychache as Mediators.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2024Article
- The association between community-level economic deprivation and incidences of emergency department visits on account of attempted suicides in Maryland.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Differences in suicide acceptability by farming-related occupation, demographic, and religiosity factors, general social survey 2000-2022.PLOS mental health · 2024Article
- Suicidal Ideation in Iraqi Medical Students Based on Research Using PHQ-9 and SSI-C.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Using iterative random forest to find geospatial environmental and Sociodemographic predictors of suicide attempts.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Alcohol use and its association with suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts and non-suicidal self-harm in two successive, nationally representative English household samples.BJPsych open · 2022Article
- The association between childhood maltreatment and suicidal intrusions: A cross-sectional study.Journal of traumatic stress · 2022Article
- Identifying person-specific coping responses to suicidal urges: A case series analysis and illustration of the idiographic method.Suicide & life-threatening behavior · 2022Article
- National trends in non-fatal suicidal behaviors among adults in the USA from 2009 to 2017.Psychological medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCertain demographic factors have long been cited to confer risk or protection for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, many studies have found weak or non-significant effects. Determining the effect strength and clinical utility of demographics as predictors is crucial for suicide risk assessment and theory development. As such, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine the effect strength and clinical utility of demographics as predictors.
methodsWe searched PsycInfo, PubMed, and GoogleScholar for studies published before January 1st, 2015. Inclusion criteria required that studies use at least one demographic factor to longitudinally predict suicide ideation, attempt, or death. The initial search yielded 2,541 studies, 159 of which were eligible. A total of 752 unique statistical tests were included in analysis.
resultsSuicide death was the most commonly studied outcome, followed by attempt and ideation. The average follow-up length was 9.4 years. The overall effects of demographic factors studied in the field as risk factors were significant but weak, and that of demographic factors studied as protective factors were non-significant. Adjusting for publication bias further reduced effect estimates. No specific demographic factors appeared to be strong predictors. The effects were consistent across multiple moderators.
conclusionsAt least within the narrow methodological constraints of the existing literature, demographic factors were statistically significant risk factors, but not protective factors. Even as risk factors, demographics offer very little improvement in predictive accuracy. Future studies that go beyond the limitations of the existing literature are needed to further understand the effects of demographics.
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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.