# Exploring suicide risk among female inpatients with eating disorders: a clinical perspective

## TL;DR

This study explores suicide risk in women with eating disorders, finding that childhood trauma and a lack of life meaning are strongly linked to suicidal thoughts.

## Contribution

The study identifies childhood sexual abuse and loss of meaning as key factors associated with suicidal ideation in eating disorder patients.

## Key findings

- Suicidal ideation was significantly linked to childhood sexual abuse and loss of meaning in life.
- Self-injurious behaviors were associated with psychache and a history of sexual or physical abuse.
- Depressive symptoms and hopelessness were also linked to increased suicide risk in these patients.

## Abstract

Patients with eating disorders show an elevated suicide risk compared to the general population. Adverse childhood experiences, depressive symptoms, and mental pain, often accompanied by hopelessness and demoralization, may increase this risk. This study aims to explore suicidal ideation and self-injurious behaviors in a heterogeneous sample of ED patients, and their association with childhood trauma and negative mental states.

101 female patients were recruited from the inpatient and day hospital ED units at Policlinico Umberto I, Rome. Assessments included comorbid psychiatric diagnosis, suicide risk, mental pain, childhood trauma, depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and demoralization.

Suicidal ideation in the past month was significantly associated with trait and state-level mental pain, self-reported sexual abuse, depression, hopelessness, and loss of meaning. In the multivariate model, only childhood sexual abuse and loss of meaning remained significantly associated. Self-injurious behaviors in the past 3 months were associated with trait-level psychache, self-reported sexual and physical abuse, and depression severity, however significantly associated with self-injurious behaviors in the multivariate model.

Findings highlight the importance of assessing childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse, a low sense of meaning in life, depressive symptoms, and psychache in patients with EDs to improve suicide prevention strategies with specific interventions.

Level of evidence III—Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies.