Alcohol, Drugs, Fighting and Suicide Attempt/Ideation

Abstract

In a representative U.S. sample of 18,352 current drinkers 18 years of age and over, past-year alcohol- or other drug-related fighting and suicide attempt/ideation both showed strong positive bivariate associations with volume of alcohol intake, proportion of drinking days resulting in intoxication (the intoxication index) and past-year drug use, especially multiple drug use. After adjusting for potential confounders in a series of multiple logistic regression models, average daily ethanol intake retained a significant positive association with the odds of alcohol- and other drug-related fighting, as did the intoxication index–except among drinkers who used marijuana only (i.e., no other drugs). The odds of this outcome also were increased by use of simulants or cocaine only, use of multiple drugs and use of marijuana–the latter primarily among women. The odds of past-year suicide attempt/ideation were positively associated with the intoxication index but were not significantly associated with average daily ethanol intake. Suicide attempt/ideation also was positively associated with the use of marijuana only, seda-tives/tranquilizers only, cocaine/stimulants only and multiple drugs. Because drug use was positively associated with alcohol use, models restricted to only alcohol or only drug use measures overestimated some of their associations with the two outcome measures. Simultaneous use of alcohol and drugs was not significantly associated with the odds of either of the outcomes considered in this analysis, but the data were suggestive of a positive effect of simultaneous use on alcohol- and drug-related fighting.