Citation

Lenz B, Thiem D, Bouna-Pyrrou P, Mühle C, Stoessel C, Betz P, Kornhuber J. J. Neural. Transm. 2016; 123(12): 1499-1503.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00702-016-1608-4

PMID

27565149

Abstract

Although women attempt suicides equally or more often than men do, men are more likely to die of suicide than women (sex paradox of suicidal behavior). Furthermore, the male traits of aggression and impulsivity predict suicide completion. Here, we studied the second-to-fourth-finger length ratio (2D:4D), a proxy for prenatal androgen exposure, in 46 suicide corpses and 25 non-suicide corpses. We report significantly lower 2D:4D in male suicide corpses than non-suicide corpses (p = .030, partial η (2) = .147). There was no significant association between 2D:4D and the suicide method. Our findings indicate increased risk of suicide following higher prenatal androgen exposure in males. The results may improve future efforts to predict and prevent suicides.

Language: en