Effects of social deprivation on risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in commercially insured US youth and adults

We used US nationwide commercial insurance claims data (2011–2015) to study the effect of social deprivation on clinical and demographic risk factors for suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA) among US youth and adults < 65 years, after having a mental health or substance use disorder-related outpatient encounter. Neighborhood social deprivation level was summarized by the quintile of social deprivation index (SDI) at individuals’ zip code level. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the effect of social deprivation on demographic and clinical risk factors for SI and SA. The study cohort consisted of 317,383 individuals < 65 years, with 124,424 aged < 25 (youth) and 192,959 aged between 25 and 64 (adults). Neighborhood social deprivation impacted risk factors for SI and SA differently for youth and adults. Among youth, SDI interacted with multiple risk factors for both SI and SA. The effects of the risk factors were larger on youth from middle socioeconomic neighborhoods. Among adults, risk of SI was the strongest in the most deprived neighborhoods, but risk of SA did not vary by neighborhood deprivation level. Our findings suggest community-based suicide prevention initiatives should be tailored according to neighborhood deprivation level and the targeted individual’s age to maximize the impact.