Current tobacco use, occurring among relapsers persistent, d, or new tobacco users, was independently associated with increased risk of suicide attempt, supporting a previous prospective study[21] and cross-sectional findings in depressed individuals [30]. The findings regarding tobacco abstinence reveal a nuanced effect. Long-term former tobacco users (former tobacco users in Wave 1 and Wave 2) did not show a significantly elevated relative risk for suicide attempt in Wave 2 but former tobacco users at Wave 1 who relapsed by Wave 2 did. An effect of relapse and new smoking on SROs had been seen in a previous analysis by our group in the NESARC data restricted to the low mood sample: Wave 1 former smokers who relapsed to smoking in Wave 2 showed the highest risk for SROs at Wave 2; significant risk for a future SRO was seen in Wave 1 never smokers who began smoking during Wave 2 [9]. The current analysis extends those prior findings to the general population, not only persons with low mood.
