Suicide risk in adults with autism spectrum disorder: prevalence, assessment, and possible therapeutic interventions

Abstract

Introduction: Suicide risk in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has emerged as a long-neglected issue. This revision aims to explore the prevalence, methods of assessment, and available treatments for suicide risk in this population.

Methods: A narrative review was carried out on three aspects related to the risk of suicide in the adult population with ASD: prevalence, evaluation and available evidence-based interventions. The bibliographic search was carried out using the Pubmed, Scielo, Dialnet and Psychinfo search engines, limited to articles published from 2010 onwards. In order to identify relevant literature, various combinations of keywords were used, such as “suicide risk,” “autism spectrum disorder,” and “suicide in autism,” in both Spanish and English.

Conclusions: The main findings suggest a high prevalence of suicide risk, highlighting the need of developing standardized protocols to assess such risk in the autistic population. Moreover, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy has shown promise as a therapeutic option to decrease suicidality, but further research is needed to establish its effectiveness and standardization as a treatment.