Suicidal ideation has also been closely associated with suicide attempts; Lewinsohn et al. (1996) found that 88% of suicide attempters reported suicidal ideation. In a community sample of adolescents, suicidal ideation at age 15 was associated with a 12-fold increase in the odds of a suicide attempt by age 30 (Reinherz et al. 2006). Even among adolescents hospitalized with acute suicide risk, the severity (frequency and specificity) of suicidal ideation confers ongoing suicide risk. Specifically, in one sample, suicidal ideation at initial hospitalization predicted a suicide attempt in the subsequent 6 (Huth-Bocks et al. 2007) and 15 months (Kerr et al. 2007). Prinstein et al. (2008) traced the course of suicidal thoughts among psychiatrically hospitalized suicidal adolescents in the 18 months following discharge. Although such thoughts tended to remit in the first 6 months, less marked decreases over time predicted later suicide attempt and a resurgence of suicidal thoughts occurred in the 9–18 months following hospitalization. These findings underscore the importance of continued follow-up.
