Examining the Relationship Between Autism Traits and Sleep Duration as Predictors of Suicidality
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S.I. : SUICIDALITY AND SELF-HARM IN AUTISM
Examining the Relationship Between Autism Traits and Sleep Duration as Predictors of Suicidality K. D. Hochard1 · R. Pendrous1 · T. Mari1 · S. Flynn2
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Short sleep duration is a known risk factor for suicidality in the general population, yet it is unclear how short sleep interacts with autism traits in predicting suicidality. In this cross-sectional online study, a general population sample (N = 650) completed measures assessing autism traits, suicidal ideation, and sleep duration. Moderated hierarchical regressions demonstrated that higher autism traits and shorter sleep were independent predictors of increased suicide ideation. However, sleep duration did not significantly moderate the autism trait to suicide ideation relationship. Future work should explore this relationship longitudinally using objective measures before considering intervention work to increase sleep duration in those with elevated autism traits. Keywords Autism · Autism trait · Sleep duration · Suicide ideation
Introduction Suicidality in Autism Spectrum Conditions Suicide is one of the largest causes of premature death in people with autism spectrum conditions (“autism” hereinafter), and the risk of death by suicide has been shown in a Swedish sample to be nine times greater for people with autism than in a matched sample of the general population (Hirvikoski et al. 2016). Although the exact risk for suicide ideation and attempts remain unclear (Zahid and Upthegrove 2017), reports estimate suicide ideation to occur in up to 72%, and suicide attempt between 7 and 47% of child, adolescent, and adult samples with autism spectrum conditions (Hedley and Uljarević 2018; Zahid and Upthegrove 2017). Adults with autism experience significantly more suicidal thoughts compared with adults in the general population (66% vs. 17%; Cassidy et al. 2014); and are more likely to * K. D. Hochard [email protected] 1
Centre for Contextual Behavioural Science, School of Psychology, University of Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester CH1 4BJ, UK
Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
2
attempt suicide more than once (Richards et al. 2019). Cassidy et al. (2018) have also indicated that people with autism report suicide risk scores significantly above the clinical cutoff compared to general population adults (72% vs. 33%). Further, Cassidy and colleagues reported that people with autism were more likely to report self-harm at some point in their life (65% vs. 29.8%). After statistically controlling for common demographic risk factors such as age and sex, the inclusion of autism diagnosis as a predictor accounted for an additional 4.5% variance in suicidality in the sample. Autism traits are heterogenous, varying in severity within the general population (Landry and Chouinard 2016). That is, individuals may present with one or more behaviours or traits (such as impairment in social communication) relating to the bro
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