Researchers who studied 723 incarcerated youth found a correlation between inhalant use and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, Medical News Today reported Oct. 3.

Researchers Stacey Freedenthal and Jeffrey Jenson of the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work and colleagues found that a majority of the adolescents who had been serious inhalant users had attempted suicide at least once, and that suicidal attempts and thoughts rose in proportion with the use of inhalants.

Among girls, 81.3 percent of those who were users or dependent upon inhalants reported suicide attempts. The rate among boys was 59.5 percent. "Girls' problems tended to be more severe," Freedenthal said. "For participants who reported dependence or abuse of inhalants, rates of suicide attempts were dramatically higher for girls. However, prior research indicates that while girls attempt suicide more often than boys do, boys actually die by suicide at higher rates."

The authors only reported a relationship between the behaviors, not cause-and-effect.

The study appears in the September 2007 issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.