Abstract only

Background and aims: Individuals with an addiction frequently report sleep disturbances (Chakravorty et al., 2016), which is associated with an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours (Liu et al., 2020). The extent of this relationship depends on other factors such as the presence of disorders like an addiction. As such, a systematic review synthesising the existing literature and a meta-analysis to quantify the relationship between sleep disturbances and suicidal ideation in individuals with an addiction is warranted.

Method: Four electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) were searched for eligible articles in April 2025 resulting in 13 articles included for narrative synthesis and quality assessment. Of these, 11 analyses from six studies were included for meta-analysis.

Results: The meta-analysis identified that individuals with an addiction and sleep disturbance are almost three times more likely to report suicidal ideation than those without sleep disturbances (pooled OR: 2.92, pooled 95% CI: 2.11, 4.04). The narrative synthesis identified that this may differ depending on type of sleep such that evidence was strongest supporting a relationship between sleep quality or general sleep problems and suicidality.

Discussion: Individuals with an addiction and sleep disturbances are at higher risk of reporting suicidality than individuals reporting only an addiction or only sleep disturbances (Pigeon et al., 2012). Addressing sleep disturbances may reduce the risk of suicidal ideation within this population.

Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that individuals with an addiction and sleep disturbances particularly sleep quality are at increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours.