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Aim: To assess gender differences in the association between risk/protective factors and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB); and whether there is any gender-interaction with those factors and STB; among Spanish university students.Methods: Data from baseline online survey of UNIVERSAL project, a multicenter, observational study of first-year Spanish university students (18-24 years). We assessed STB; lifetime and 12-month negative life-events and family adversities; mental disorders; personal and community factors. Gender-specific regression models and gender-interactions were also analyzed.Results: We included 2,105 students, 55.4% women. Twelve-month prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) was 10%, plans 5.7%, attempts 0.6%. Statistically significant gender-interactions were found for lifetime anxiety disorder, hopelessness, violence between parents, chronic health conditions and family support. Lifetime mood disorder was a common risk factor of SI for both genders (Females: OR= 5.5; 95%CI 3.3-9.3; Males: OR= 4.4; 95%CI 2.0-9.7). For females, exposure to violence between parents (OR= 3.5; 95%CI 1.7-7.2), anxiety disorder (OR= 2.7; 95%CI 1.6-4.6), and alcohol/substance disorder (OR= 2.1; 95%CI 1.1-4.3); and for males, physical childhood maltreatment (OR= 3.6; 95%CI 1.4-9.2), deceased parents (OR= 4.6; 95%CI 1.2-17.7), and hopelessness (OR= 7.7; 95%CI 2.8-21.2), increased SI risk. Family support (OR= 0.5; 95%CI 0.2-0.9) and peers/others support (OR= 0.4; 95%CI 0.2-0.8) were associated to a lower SI risk only among females.Conclusions: Only mood disorder was a common risk factor of SI for both genders, whereas important gender-differences were observed regarding the other factors assessed. The protective effect from family and peers/others support was observed only among females. Further research assessing underlying mechanisms and pathways of gender-differences is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Approximately one in five college students report a history of nonsuicidal self-injury. However, it is unclear how many students meet criteria for the recently proposed DSM-5 nonsuicidal self-injury disorder (NSSI-D). In this study, we used full NSSI-D criteria to identify those students most in need of clinical care.Methods: Using data from the Leuven College Surveys (n = 4,565), we examined the 12-month prevalence of DSM-5 NSSI-D in a large and representative sample of incoming college students. We also explored the optimal frequency threshold as a function of interference in functioning due to NSSI, and examined comorbidity patterns with other 12-month mental disorders (i.e., major depressive disorder, broad mania, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and alcohol dependence) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB).Results: Twelve-month NSSI-D prevalence was 0.8% and more common among females (1.1%) than males (0.4%). The proposed 5+ diagnostic threshold was confirmed as yielding highest discrimination between threshold and subthreshold cases in terms of distress or disability due to NSSI. A dose-response relationship was observed for NSSI recency-severity (i.e., 12-month NSSI-D, subthreshold 12-month NSSI-D, past NSSI, no history of NSSI) with number of 12-month mental disorders and STB. NSSI-D occurred without comorbid disorders for one in five individuals, and remained associated with severe role impairment when controlling for the number of comorbid disorders.Conclusions: These findings offer preliminary evidence that DSM-5 NSSI-D is uncommon among incoming college students, but may help to improve the deployment of targeted resource allocation to those most in need of services. More work examining the validity of NSSI-D is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]