Suicide is the second leading cause of death in individuals aged 15–29 years (World Health Organization, 2016). In the United States, rates of documented suicide have increased by 24% between 1999–2014 (Curtin et al., 2016). A history of past suicide attempts (SA) are among the most prominent risk factors leading to suicide death and, in and of themselves, contribute to approximately $33,000 in health care and disability costs per attempt (Palmer et al., 1995;Shepard et al., 2015). According to data from the National Comorbidity Survey, about 4.6% of U.S. adults report SA (Kessler et al., 1999); however, a more considerable proportion, 13.5%, report a lifetime history of suicidal ideation (SI; Nock et al., 2008)). SI often precedes SA. However, many SAs occur in the absence of significant SI and indeed, the etiology of SI and SA have been characterized to be partially distinct (Nock et al., 2016). Some have posited that SA, in the absence of SI, may reflect a liability to impulsive behaviors (Conner et al., 2006; Rimkeviciene et al., 2015; Turecki, 2005), risk for which may be exacerbated in those with a family history of substance use.
