Autism, especially in women, linked to higher self harm risk

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-08-09 01:00

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Autism, especially in women, is linked to a higher risk of suicide and self harm according to an international study. A team of researchers looked at the rate of suicide and self-harm among over 75,000 autistic people in Canada and compared this with non-autistic Canadians of similar demographics. The researchers say autistic women had an 83% increased risk of self-harm compared to the non-autistic population while autistic men had a 47% increased risk. The increased risk of self-harm was also linked to psychiatric diagnoses, they say.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada

Funder: This study was supported by ICES, which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care. This study also received funding from the Innovation Fund of the Alternative Funding Plan for the Academic Health Sciences Centres of Ontario (CAM-20-004, CAM-20-005); the Academic Scholars Award from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Sex and Gender Science Chair (GSB 171373).

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