ArticleNeurobiology of learning and memory2023
The combination of autism and exceptional cognitive ability is associated with suicidal ideation.
Article in Neurobiology of learning and memory, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond Traditional Psychiatric Care: A Systematic Review of Multidisciplinary Approaches to Mitigating Adolescent Suicide Risk.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Review
- Understanding the interplay of autistic traits, depression and suicidal ideation in adolescents with major depressive disorder.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Lifetime stressor exposure is related to suicidality in autistic adults: A multinational study.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2025Article
- Mental Health and Suicide Attempts in Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in People on the Autism Spectrum.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Autism with co-occurring exceptional cognitive ability is often accompanied by severe internalizing symptoms and feelings of inadequacy. Whether cognitive ability also translates into greater risk for suicidal ideation is unclear. To investigate this urgent question, we examined two samples of high-ability autistic individuals for factors that were predictive of suicidal ideation. In the first sample (N = 1,074 individuals seen at a clinic specializing in gifted/talented youth), we observed a striking excess of parent-reported suicidal ideation in autistic individuals with IQ ≥ 120 (Odds Ratio = 5.9, p=0.0007). In a separate sample of SPARK participants, we confirmed higher rates of suicidal thoughts compared to non-autistic children from the ABCD cohort (combined N = 16,049, Odds Ratio = 6.8, p<2.2e-16), and further that autistic children with suicidal thoughts had significantly higher cognitive ability (p<2.2e-16) than those without. Elevated polygenic scores (PGS) for cognitive performance were associated with increased suicidal thoughts (N = 1,983, Z=2.16,p=0.03), with PGS for educational attainment trending in the same direction (Z=1.4,p=0.17). Notably, similar results were found in parents of these autistic youth, where higher PGS for educational attainment was associated with increasing thoughts of suicide (N = 736, Z=2.28,p=0.02). Taken together, these results suggest that on a phenotypic and genetic level, increasing cognitive ability is an unexpected risk factor for suicidal ideation in individuals diagnosed with, or at risk for autism.
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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.