New study: Substantially elevated suicide risk after release from prison
A new study published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica shows that people released from Norwegian prisons face a markedly higher suicide risk than the general population. Risk is highest in the weeks immediately after release but remains elevated over time.
The study is part of the Norwegian Prison Release Study (nPRIS) and includes 112,877 individuals with a prison stay between 2000 and 2022. Data from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry, the Norwegian Prison Registry, the Norwegian Patient Registry, and Statistics Norway were linked to examine factors associated with suicide after release.
Key findings
Of all deaths after release (n = 13,004), 1,183 (8.9%) were suicides.
The annual suicide burden in the prison population was five to nine times higher than in the general population throughout the study period.
Excess mortality was more than twice as high among women (SMR 8.6) as among men (SMR 4.0), compared with sex-specific rates in the general population.
More than 12% of all suicides occurred within the first six months after release.
Severe mental illness, prior self-harm, and release from high-security prisons were strong, independent predictors of suicide across the full follow-up period.
People with an immigrant background had lower suicide risk than people without an immigrant background.
A need for continuous follow-up
The findings underline the need for both immediate and sustained post-release support. The authors point to structured risk assessment tools and brief, evidence-based pre-release interventions — such as the Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) — as promising approaches to reduce suicide risk during the transition from prison to community.
Reference
Bukten A, Mehlum L, Fazel S, Lokdam NT, Tverborgvik T, Skurtveit S, Ericson ØB, Favril L, Scarth M, Rolová G, Clausen T, Stavseth MR. Socioeconomic, Criminological and Clinical Determinants in Post-Release Suicide: A 23-Year National Cohort Study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2026.
Read the full article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acps.70148
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