Another distinctive finding of this study emerged in regard to the association between the likelihood of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and the time at which the problem behaviors were initially enacted and whether they were enacted concurrently. That is, the likelihood of both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts increased when these problem behaviors were enacted concurrently, particularly among preteens. This finding also provided further evidence for our first hypothesis, and indicated that concurrent participation in multiple problem behaviors had a synergistic effect on suicidal behaviors, and that this synergistic effect may be more detrimental to preteen initiators. Further investigation is necessary to identify the patterns underlying these issues.
