Associations between MDMA/ecstasy, classic psychedelics, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in a sample of U.S. adolescents.
Grant Jones, Diego Arias, Matthew Nock
Scientific reports December 19, 2022 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25658-5 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLifetime psilocybin use among U.S. adolescents aged 12-17 was associated with 15-23% lower odds of suicidal thinking, planning, and attempts, while LSD use was linked to 20-35% higher odds of these same outcomes. MDMA/ecstasy, peyote, and mescaline showed no significant associations with suicidal thoughts or behaviors. These findings come from a nationally representative sample of 262,617 adolescents surveyed between 2004 and 2019. The results suggest that individual classic psychedelics have distinct relationships with adolescent suicide risk, highlighting the need for further research to clarify these links.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 262,617 |
| Population | U.S. adolescents aged 12-17 years |
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Psychedelics Mental health Suicide prevention Adolescent psychology |
| Citations | 18 |
| Key finding | Lifetime psilocybin use was associated with lowered odds of suicidal thinking, planning, and attempts, while LSD was associated with increased odds of these outcomes. |
Abstract
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death amongst adolescents and decades of research have failed to curb suicide rates within this population. There is thus a need to better understand factors that correlate with adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). MDMA/ecstasy and classic psychedelics represent two areas for exploration, as use of these substances has been associated with both increased and lowered odds of STBs. Thus, the goal of this study was to test the associations between MDMA/ecstasy and classic psychedelics (psilocybin, peyote, mescaline, LSD) and STBs in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents. We tested these associations in a sample of adolescents aged 12-17 years old from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2004-2019) (N = 262,617) using survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression models. Lifetime psilocybin use was associated with lowered odds of lifetime suicidal thinking, planning, and attempts (aOR range 0.77-0.85). Conversely, LSD was associated with increased odds of these same outcomes (aOR range 1.20-1.35). MDMA/ecstasy, peyote, and mescaline did not share associations with STBs. Our study demonstrates that individual classic psychedelics share varying relationships to STBs among adolescents. Future cross-sectional and longitudinal studies are needed to further elucidate the link between classic psychedelic use and STBs in youth.