Reporting suicide attempts: consistency and its determinants in a large mental health study
Open accessAbstract
A lifetime history (LTH) of suicide attempts (SAs) is frequently assessed in mental health surveys. However, little is known about the reliability of assessing a LTH of SA. This study examined the consistency and its determinants of reporting a LTH of SA in a large cohort of persons with a history of depression and/or anxiety. Data are from the baseline and two-year assessments of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety. Persons with a Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)-based lifetime depressive and/or anxiety disorder (N = 1973) constitute the study sample. A LTH of SAs was assessed at baseline and at two-year follow-up. Of the persons who reported at either interview a LTH of SAs, more than one-third did not report this consistent at both interviews. Moreover, indications were found for more consistent reporting among persons with a higher number of SAs and among persons with current (severe) psychopathology as compared to those with remitted or less severe current psychopathology. Our results showed that even a salient topic as a history of SAs is prone for reporting errors, and that current psychological state influences reporting of a LTH of SAs.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Self-reports of suicidal behavior can be very unstable over time due to erroneous recall.
“Self-reports of suicidal behavior can be very unstable over time due to erroneous recall (41).”
From Don't Miss the Moment: A Systematic Review of Ecological Momentary Assessment in Suicide Research (2022) · cites this paper as [41]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Widiger, T. A. (2000) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1037/10518-009 · Cited by 19,767 · see citing works
An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties.
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.56.6.893 · Cited by 14,407 · see citing works
Assessment of suicidal intention: The Scale for Suicide Ideation.
Beck, A. T., Kovacs, M., & Weissman, A. (1979) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.47.2.343 · Cited by 3,419 · see citing works
Lifetime Prevalence of Specific Psychiatric Disorders in Three Sites
Robins, L. N. (1984) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1984.01790210031005 · Cited by 2,550 · see citing works
Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Lifetime Suicide Attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey
Kessler, R. C., Borges, G., & Walters, E. E. (1999) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.56.7.617 · Cited by 2,514 · see citing works
Wittchen, H.-U. (1994) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(94)90036-1 · Cited by 2,348 · see citing works
The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS): Psychometric properties
Rush, A. J., Gullion, C. M., Basco, M. R., Jarrett, R. B., & Trivedi, M. H. (1996) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700035558 · Cited by 2,177 · see citing works
Autobiographical memory in suicide attempters.
Williams, J. M., & Broadbent, K. (1986) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.95.2.144 · Cited by 1,330 · see citing works
Beyond the tower of Babel: A nomenclature for suicidology
O'Carroll, P. W., Berman, A. L., Maris, R. W., Moscicki, E. K., Tanney, B. L., & Silverman, M. M. (1996) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1111/j.1943-278x.1996.tb00609.x · Cited by 982 · see citing works
The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA): rationale, objectives and methods
Penninx, B. W. J. H., Beekman, A. T. F., Smit, J. H., Zitman, F. G., Nolen, W. A., Spinhoven, P., Cuijpers, P. J., de Jong, P. J., van Marwijk, H., Assendelft, W. J., et al. (2008) · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1002/mpr.256 · Cited by 918 · see citing works
The Problem of Informant Accuracy: The Validity of Retrospective Data
Bernard, H. R., Killworth, P., Kronenfeld, D., & Sailer, L. (1984) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.an.13.100184.002431 · Cited by 896 · see citing works
Sareen, J., Cox, B. J., Afifi, T. O., de Graaf, R., Asmundson, G. J. G., ten Have, M., & Stein, M. B. (2005) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.11.1249 · Cited by 824 · see citing works
Asking questions: A practical guide to questionnaire design
Conley, J. J. (1983) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(83)90107-1 · Cited by 733 · see citing works
Beautrais, A. L., Joyce, P. R., Mulder, R. T., Fergusson, D. M., Deavoll, B. J., & Nightingale, S. (1996) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.153.8.1009 · Cited by 654 · see citing works
Silverman, M. M., Berman, A. L., Sanddal, N. D., O'Carroll, P. W., & Joiner, T. E. (2007) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1521/suli.2007.37.3.248 · Cited by 593 · see citing works
IDENTIFICATION OF SUICIDE RISK FACTORS USING EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES
Mościcki, E. K. (1997) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/s0193-953x(05)70327-0 · Cited by 507 · see citing works
Platt, S. D., Bille‐Brahe, U., Kerkhof, A. J. F. M., Schmidtke, A., Bjerke, T., Crepet, P., Leo, D. D., Häring, C., Lönnqvist, J. K., Michel, K., et al. (1992) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1992.tb01451.x · Cited by 465 · see citing works
Epidemiology: Reflections on Testing the Validity of Psychiatric Interviews
Robins, L. N. (1985) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790320090013 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Incidence and Course of Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts in the General Population
ten Have, M., de Graaf, R., van Dorsselaer, S., Verdurmen, J. E. E., Land, H. V. '., Vollebergh, W., & Beekman, A. T. F. (2009) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/070674370905401205 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Recall of Psychiatric History in Cross-sectional Surveys: Implications for Epidemiologic Research
Simon, G. E., & VonKorff, M. (1995) · Epidemiologic Reviews · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036180 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Sources of Bias in Memory for Emotions
Levine, L. J., & Safer, M. A. (2002) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00193 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Long-term Reliability of Diagnosing Lifetime Major Depression in a Community Sample
Bromet, E. J. (1986) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1986.01800050033004 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Definitions of Suicidal Behavior
Leo, D. D., Burgis, S., Bertolote, J. M., Kerkhof, A. J. F. M., & Bille‐Brahe, U. (2006) · Crisis · doi:10.1027/0227-5910.27.1.4 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Emotional Disturbance and the Specificity of Autobiographical Memory
Williams, J. M. G., & Dritschel, B. (1988) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699938808410925 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Lamers, F., Hoogendoorn, A. W., Smit, J. H., van Dyck, R., Zitman, F. G., Nolen, W. A., & Penninx, B. W. J. H. (2011) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2011.01.011 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Social Psychological Aspects of Reporting Behavior: Lifetime Depressive Episode Reports
Aneshensel, C. S., Estrada, A. L., Hansell, M. J., & Clark, V. A. (1987) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2136843 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
Functions of remembering and misremembering emotion
Levine, L. J., Lench, H. C., & Safer, M. A. (2009) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.1610 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
The Problem of Informant Accuracy: The Validity of Retrospective Data
Bernard, H. (1984) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.13.1.495 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Applying a timeline as a recall aid in a telephone survey: a record check study
van der Vaart, W., & Glasner, T. J. (2007) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.1338 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
van der Vaart, W. (2004) · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Christl, B., Wïttchen, H., Pfister, H., Lieb, R., & Bronisch, T. (2006) · Archives of Suicide Research · doi:10.1080/13811110600582539 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
The Value of Forgetting Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior
Klimes‐Dougan, B., Safer, M. A., Ronsaville, D. S., Tinsley, R., & Harris, S. J. (2007) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1521/suli.2007.37.4.431 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Leibetseder, M. M., Rohrer, R. R., Mackinger, H. F., & Fartacek, R. R. (2006) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930500342449 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Kendler, K. S., GARDNER, C. O., & Prescott, C. A. (2001) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291701003798 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Thompson, R., Bogner, H. R., Coyne, J. C., Gallo, J. J., & Eaton, W. W. (2004) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2003.00284.x · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Are secular trends in major depression an artifact of recall?
Warshaw, M. G., Klerman, G. L., & Lavori, P. W. (1991) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(91)90007-w · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The Benefit of Forgetting Suicidal Ideation
Goldney, R. D., Winefield, A. H., Winefield, H. R., & Saebel, J. (2009) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1521/suli.2009.39.1.33 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Don't Miss the Moment: A Systematic Review of Ecological Momentary Assessment in Suicide Research
Kivelä, L., van der Does, W. A. J., Riese, H., & Antypa, N. (2022) · Frontiers in Digital Health · doi:10.3389/fdgth.2022.876595 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Large, M. M. B., Corderoy, A., & McHugh, C. M. (2020) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0004867420931161 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Using data linkage to investigate inconsistent reporting of self-harm and questionnaire non-response
Mars, B., Cornish, R., Heron, J., Boyd, A., Crane, C., Hawton, K., Lewis, G., Tilling, K., Macleod, J., & Gunnell, D. (2016) · Archives of Suicide Research · doi:10.1080/13811118.2015.1033121 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Wiebenga, J. X. M., Dickhoff, J., Mérelle, S. Y. M., Eikelenboom, M., Heering, H. D., Gilissen, R., van Oppen, P., & Penninx, B. W. J. H. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.053 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
van Mens, K., de Schepper, C., Wijnen, B. F. M., Koldijk, S., Schnack, H. G., de Looff, P. C., Lokkerbol, J., Wetherall, K., Cleare, S., O'Connor, D. B., et al. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.081 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
A 6-year longitudinal study of predictors for suicide attempts in major depressive disorder
Eikelenboom, M., Beekman, A. T. F., Penninx, B. W. J. H., & Smit, J. H. (2018) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291718001423 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Biased reporting of past self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A literature review
Klimes‐Dougan, B., Mirza, S. A., Babkin, E., & Lanning, C. (2022) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.04.073 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Serious suicide attempts in outpatients with multiple substance use disorders
Icick, R., Karsinti, E., Lépine, J. P., Bloch, V., Brousse, G., Bellivier, F., & Vorspan, F. (2017) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.08.037 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
de Beurs, D., ten Have, M., Cuijpers, P., & de Graaf, R. (2019) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-019-2328-8 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Longitudinal course of suicidal ideation and predictors of its persistence – A NESDA study
Kivelä, L. M. M., Krause-Utz, A., Mouthaan, J., Schoorl, M., de Kleine, R. A., Elzinga, B. M., Eikelenboom, M., Penninx, B. W. J. H., van der Does, W. A. J., & Antypa, N. (2019) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2019.07.042 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Wiebenga, J. X. M., Heering, H. D., Eikelenboom, M., van Hemert, A. M., van Oppen, P., & Penninx, B. W. J. H. (2022) · Brain, Behavior, and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2022.02.021 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
van Vuuren, C. L., van Mens, K., Beurs, D. P. D., Lokkerbol, J., van der Wal, M. F., Cuijpers, P. J., & Chinapaw, M. J. M. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.09.018 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Stringer, B., van Meijel, B., Eikelenboom, M., Koekkoek, B., Licht, C. M. M., Kerkhof, A. J. F. M., Penninx, B. W. J. H., & Beekman, A. T. F. (2013) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.02.038 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Robinson, K., & Wilson, M. (2020) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/pas0000830 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Hom, M. A., Stanley, I. H., Duffy, M. E., Rogers, M. L., Hanson, J. E., Gutierrez, P. M., & Joiner, T. E. (2019) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22776 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Previous Suicide Attempt and Its Association With Method Used in a Suicide Death
Jamison, E. C., & Bol, K. A. (2016) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2016.07.023 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Wielaard, I., Stek, M. L., Comijs, H. C., & Rhebergen, D. (2018) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.08.009 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Haghish, E. F., Czajkowski, N. O., Walby, F. A., Qin, P., & Laeng, B. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.133 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Icick, R., Vorspan, F., Karsinti, E., Ksouda, K., Lépine, J., Brousse, G., Mouly, S. J., Bellivier, F., & Bloch, V. (2018) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.076 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Deflesselle, É., Colle, R., Rigal, L., David, D. J. P., Vievard, A., Martin, S., Becquemont, L., Verstuyft, C., & Corruble, E. (2018) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0205648 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Lee, W., Fang, S., Chen, Y., Liu, H., Huang, M., & McKetin, R. (2021) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107060 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Colbert, S. M. C., Monson, E. T., Andreassen, O. A., Ayinde, O. O., Barr, P. B., Bejan, C. A., Ceja, Z., Coon, H. H., DiBlasi, E., Edenberg, H. J., et al. (2025) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-025-03271-y · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Franken, K., ten Klooster, P. M., Bohlmeijer, E. T., Westerhof, G. J., & Kraiss, J. T. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1236551 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
The Cumulative Incidence of Self-Reported Suicide-Related Thoughts and Attempts in Young Canadians
Goodday, S., Bondy, S. J., Sutradhar, R., Brown, H. K., & Rhodes, A. E. (2018) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0706743718787794 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The Predictive Value of Preadolescent Suicidal Ideation Reporter Discrepancies in the ABCD Study
Parker, A. J., Brock, P., Hughes, M., Cutshaw, O. P., Messina, G., Wiggins, J. L., & Dougherty, L. R. (2025) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-024-01806-y · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Robinson, K., & Wilson, M. (2019) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/75z2w · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Robinson, K. (2021) · doi:10.26686/wgtn.16960195.v1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Clements, C., Farooq, B., Bickley, H., & Kapur, N. (2019) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2019.10.052 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Robinson, K., & Wilson, M. (2020) · doi:10.26686/wgtn.12991478 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Hussey, I. (2015) · Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (Maynooth University)
Robinson, K., & Wilson, M. (2020) · doi:10.26686/wgtn.12991478.v1
Eikelenboom, M., Horsfall, M., Draisma, S., & Smit, J. H. (2022) · Quality & Quantity · doi:10.1007/s11135-022-01432-7
Suicidality in Depression and Anxiety
Eikelenboom, M. (2023) · doi:10.5463/thesis.318
Thomas, J., Wenzel, K. R., Carrano, J., & Fishman, M. (2026) · Journal of dual diagnosis · doi:10.1080/15504263.2026.2675226
Brisson, R. (2026) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1002/jad.70270
Haregu, T., Whyte, E., Krishnamoorthy, S., Batterham, P. J., Pitman, A., & Armstrong, G. (2026) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2026.117467
Kim, S., & Lee, K. (2026) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2026.122603
- Authors
- Eikelenboom, M., Smit, J. H., Beekman, A. T. F., Kerkhof, A. J. F. M., & Penninx, B. W. J. H.
- Affiliations
- Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- ORCID
- Venue
- International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-02-25
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 257-266
- ISSN
- 1049-8931 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-0657
- PMC
- PMC6878247
- OpenAlex
- W1946646253
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 1.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Reliability and Agreement in Measurement
- Keywords
- suicide attempts, reporting consistency, measurement reliability, depression, anxiety, psychopathology severity, remission, error reporting, NESDA
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Depression, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Netherlands, Psychopathology, Suicide, Attempted
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
