Association between Asthma and Suicidality in 9–12-Year-Old Youths

Purpose: Suicidal ideation and attempts in youth are a growing health concern, and more data are needed regarding their biological underpinnings.

Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disorder in youth and has been associated with suicidal ideation and attempts in adolescent and adult populations, but data in younger children and early adolescents are lacking.

We wished to study associations of asthma with childhood suicidality considering asthma’s potential as a clinically relevant model for childhood chronic immune dysregulation.

Methods: Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (n = 11,876, 47.8% female, mean age 9.9 years at baseline assessment and 12.0 years at two-year follow-up), we assessed associations between asthma and suicidal ideation and attempts through baseline to two-year follow-up.

Results: Asthma history as defined by parent report (n = 2282, 19.2% of study population) was associated with suicide attempts (SA) (odds ratio (OR) = 1.44, p = 0.01), and this association remained significant even when controlling for demographics, socioeconomic factors, and environmental factors (OR = 1.46, p = 0.028).

History of asthma attacks was associated with both suicidal ideation (SI) and SA when controlling for demographics, socioeconomic factors, and environmental factors (OR = 1.27, p = 0.042; OR = 1.83, p = 0.004, respectively).

The association of asthma attack with SA remained significant when controlling for self-reported psychopathology (OR = 1.92, p = 0.004).

The total number of asthma attacks was associated with both SI and SA (OR = 1.03, p = 0.043; OR = 1.06, p = 0.05, respectively).

Conclusions: Findings suggest an association between asthma and suicidality in early adolescence.

Further research is needed to investigate mechanisms underlying this relationship.