Differential endorsement of suicidal ideation and attempt in bipolar versus unipolar depression: a testlet response theory analysis

- This study utilized latent modeling to examine suicide risk across mood disorders.
- Data revealed higher overall depression severity in bipolar vs. unipolar groups.
- Higher severity largely accounted for differences in suicide risk between disorders.
- Data support a dimensional model of suicide emphasizing severity over disorder class.

BackgroundPublished data concerning differences in suicide risk across the mood disorders spectrum remain mixed. The current study used testlet response theory methods to evaluate differences in the endorsement of suicidal ideation and attempt in an epidemiological sample of individuals with bipolar and unipolar depression.MethodParticipants with lifetime history of bipolar I (n=1154), bipolar II (n=494), and unipolar (n=5695) depression were drawn from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, which included 4 structured queries concerning suicidal ideation/attempt. We estimated differential item functioning between groups with a 2-pl parametric item response model.ResultsEndorsement of suicide items increased as a function of underlying depression severity. Equating for severity, endorsement of suicidal ideation and attempt was generally more frequent in bipolar versus unipolar depression, and in bipolar I versus bipolar II depression. Yet findings were not consistent across all suicide items, and differences were small in magnitude.LimitationsThe NESARC relied upon lifetime endorsement of suicide items, and suicide risk was only evaluated within the context of a major depressive episode. Thus, this study could not evaluate endorsement of suicide items within the context of (hypo)manic or mixed states.ConclusionAlthough there were some group differences, patterns of item endorsement were more similar than different. These data support a transdiagnostic model of suicide that emphasizes underlying depression severity over mood disorder class.