Exploring the Link Between Suicidality and Pharmacotherapy in Adolescents: Evidence from a Clinical Cohort

Introduction This database includes the raw data linked with the paper “Exploring the Link Between Suicidality and Pharmacotherapy in Adolescents: Evidence from a Clinical Cohort”. In this paper, we aimed to examine the association between the presence of suicidal ideation and/or behaviors (Suicidal Concern - SC) and psychiatric pharmacological prescriptions in a clinical sample of adolescents with psychiatric disorders, comparing pharmacological prescriptions between the SC group and non-suicidal concern (NSC) group at admission (T0) and discharge (T1). We also examined whether the presence of suicidal concern was a significant predictor of prescription at discharge, adjusting for age, gender, and psychiatric diagnoses. Moreover, we aimed to explore whether adolescents classified as high-risk for suicidality, based on the C-SSRS, were more likely to be prescribed psychiatric medications compared to those at low risk Methods We evaluated 224 patients aged 12-18 years, administering the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) and collecting sociodemographics and pharmacological history at T0 and T1. We divided participants into the Suicidal Concern (SC group and the Non-suicidal Concern (NSC) group. For aim 2, we divided the participants in the SC group into low- and high-risk groups Results (in brief) Antipsychotics and benzodiazepines were prescribed more frequently in the SC group compared to the NSC. Mood stabilizers were used rarely overall but more frequently in SC. Receiving any pharmacological treatment was more frequent in the SC group than in the NSC. Among SC patients, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and supplements increased from T0 to T1. Total pharmacological treatments significantly increased. In the NSC group, only antidepressant prescriptions showed a significant increase. Total drug prescription was significantly associated with SC status. A trend toward significance was observed for antipsychotic use and supplement prescription. However, no significant associations were found for antidepressants, benzodiazepines, or mood stabilizers. Concerning aim 2, in the high-risk group, prescriptions significantly increased for antidepressants, antipsychotics, and supplements. Additionally, the total number of prescriptions increased for the high-risk group from T0 to T1.