Self-harm and Suicidality Experiences of Middle-Age and Older Adults With vs. Without High Autistic Traits
Gavin R. Stewart, Anne Corbett, Clive Ballard, Byron Creese, Dag Aarsland, Adam Hampshire, Rebecca A. Charlton, Francesca Happé
Abstract
Suicide has been identified as a leading cause of premature death in autistic populations. Elevated autistic traits have also been associated with higher rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal self-harm in the general population, but this has yet to be examined in older age. Using baseline cross-sectional data from the PROTECT study, middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits (n = 276) had significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, and suicidal self-harm than an age/sex-matched comparison group (n = 10,495). These differences represented a 5- to 6-fold increase in likelihood for self-harming and suicidality. These findings, which remained when controlling for depression symptoms, suggest that middle-age and older adults with high autistic traits may be particularly at risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviours.