Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
Hostname: page-component-ffbbcc459-l9rg9 Total loading time: 3.646 Render date: 2022-03-03T19:10:58.718Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "useRatesEcommerce": false, "useNewApi": true }
  • English
European Psychiatry European Psychiatry

Article contents

What family studies teach us about suicidal behavior: Implications for research, treatment, and prevention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

D. Brent
D. Brent*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA15213, United States
*
E-mail address: brentda@upmc.edu
Get access

Abstract

Suicidal behavior is transmitted within families, above and beyond the transmission of psychiatric disorder. The familial phenotype of suicidal behavior includes suicide completion and attempts, but not suicidal ideation, the latter of which is transmitted along with depression. The familial transmission of early-onset suicidal behavior is co-transmitted with, and appears to be mediated by the transmission of impulsive aggression. Additionally, the familial transmission of suicidal behavior is, in part, mediated by the familial transmission of abuse. Moreover, high family loading for mood disorder and suicidal behavior are related to multi-generational abuse, impulsive aggression, and early-onset of mood disorder and of suicidal behavior.

Keywords

Mood disorderSuicidal behaviorSuicide
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 25 , Issue 5: The role of genetics in promoting suicide prevention and the mental health of the population - Nobel Conference: The role of genetics in promoting suicide prevention and the mental health of the population , June 2010 , pp. 260 - 263
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brent, DA, Bridge, J, Johnson, BA, Connolly, JSuicidal behavior runs in families: A controlled family study of adolescent suicide victims. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1996;53:1145–1152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brent, DA, Oquendo, M, Birmaher, B, Greenhill, L, Kolko, D, Stanley, Bet al.Familial pathways to early-onset suicide attempt: Risk for suicidal behavior in offspring of mood-disordered suicide attempters. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59:801–807.10.1001/archpsyc.59.9.801CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brent, DA, Oquendo, MA, Birmaher, B, Greenhill, L, Kolko, D, Stanley, Bet al.Peripubertal suicide attempts in offspring of suicide attempters with siblings concordant for suicidal behavior. Am J Psychiatry 2003;160:1486–1493.10.1176/appi.ajp.160.8.1486CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brodsky, BS, Mann, JJ, Stanley, B, Tin, A, Oquendo, M, Birmaher, Bet al.Familial transmission of suicidal behavior: Factors mediating the relationship between childhood abuse and offspring suicide attempts. J Clin Psychiatry 2008;69:584–596.10.4088/JCP.v69n0410CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carballo, JJ, Harkavy-Friedman, J, Burke, AK, Sher, L, Baca-Garcia, E, Sullivan, GMet al.Family history of suicidal behavior and early traumatic experiences: Additive effect on suicidality and course of bipolar illness?. J Affect Disord 2008;109:57–63.10.1016/j.jad.2007.12.225CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheng, AT, Chen, THH, Chen, CC, Jenkins, RPsychosocial and psychiatric risk factors for suicide: Case-control psychological autopsy study. Br J Psychiatry 2000;177:360–365.10.1192/bjp.177.4.360CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diaconu, G, Turecki, GFamily history of suicidal behavior predicts impulsive-aggressive behavior levels in psychiatric outpatients. J Affect Disord 2009;113:172–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Egeland, JA, Sussex, JNSuicide and family loading for affective disorders. J Am Med Assoc 1985;254:915–918.10.1001/jama.1985.03360070053022CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Beautrais, AL, Horwood, LJVulnerability and resiliency to suicidal behaviours in young people. Psychol Med 2003;33:61–73.10.1017/S0033291702006748CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garber, J, Clarke, G, Weersing, R, Beardslee, W, Brent, D, Gladstone, Tet al.Prevention of depression in at-risk adolescents: A randomized controlled trial. J Am Med Assoc 2009;301:2215–2224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gould, MS, Fisher, P, Parides, M, Flory, M, Shaffer, DPsychosocial risk factors of child and adolescent completed suicide. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1996;53:1155–1162.10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830120095016CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, BA, Brent, DA, Bridge, J, Connolly, J, Matta, J, Constantine, Det al.The familial aggregation of adolescent suicide attempts. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1998;97:18–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, CD, Seguin, M, Therrien, N, Riopel, G, Chawky, N, Lesage, ADet al.Familial aggregation of suicidal behavior: A family study of male suicide completers from the general population. Am J Psychiatry 2005;162:1017–1019.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lieb, R, Bronisch, T, Hofler, M, Schreier, A, Wittchen, H.-U.Maternal suicidality and risk of suicidality in offspring: Findings from a community study. Am J Psychiatry 2005;162:1665–1671.10.1176/appi.ajp.162.9.1665CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Linkowski, P, de Maertelaer, V, Mendlewicz, JSuicidal behaviour in major depressive illness. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1985;72:233–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mann, JJ, Bortinger, J, Oquendo, MA, Currier, D, Li, S, Brent, DAFamily history of suicidal behavior and mood disorders in probands with mood disorders. Am J Psychiatry 2005;162:1672–1679.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGirr, A, Renaud, J, Burear, A, Seguin, M, Lesage, A, Turecki, GImpulsive-aggressive behaviours and completed suicide across the life cycle: a predisposition for younger age of suicide. Psychol Med 2008;38:407–417.10.1017/S0033291707001419CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Melhem, NM, Brent, DA, Ziegler, M, Iyengar, S, Kolko, DJ, Oquendo, Met al.Familial pathways to early-onset suicidal behavior: Familial and individual antecedents of suicidal behavior. Am J Psychiatry 2007;164:1364–1370.10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.06091522CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mittendorfer-Rutz, E, Rasmussen, F, Wasserman, DFamilial clustering of suicidal behaviour and psychopathology in young suicide attempters. A register-based nested case control study. Soc Psychiatr Epidemiol 2008;43:28–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitterauer, BA contribution to the discussion of the role of the genetic factor in suicide, based on five studies in an epidemiologically defined area (Province of Salzburg, Austria). Compr Psychiatry 1990;31:557–565.10.1016/0010-440X(90)90070-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olds, D, Henderson CRJr, , Cole, R, Eckenrode, J, Kitzman, H, Luckey, Det al.Long-term effects of nurse home visitation on children's criminal and antisocial behavior: 15-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998;280:1238–1244.10.1001/jama.280.14.1238CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powell, J, Geddes, J, Deeks, J, Goldacre, M, Hawton, KSuicide in psychiatric hospital in-patients: Risk factors and their predictive powers. Br J Psychiatry 2000;176:266–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qin, P, Agerbo, E, Mortensen, PBSuicide risk in relation to family history of completed suicide and psychiatric disorders: A nested case-control study based on longitudinal registers. Lancet 2002;360:1126–1130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roy, AFamily history of suicide. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1983;40:971–974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roy, AFamily history of suicidal behavior and earlier onset of suicidal behavior. Psychiatry Res 2004;129:217–219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Runeson, B, Asberg, MFamily history of suicide among suicide victims. Am J Psychiatry 2003;160:1525–1526.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swartz, HA, Frank, E, Zuckoff, A, Cyranowski, JM, Houck, PR, Cheng, Yet al.Brief interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed mothers whose children are receiving psychiatric treatment. Am J Psychiatry 2008;165:1155–1162.10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07081339CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tsai, SY, Kuo, C, Chen, CC, Lee, HRisk factors for completed suicide in bipolar disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 2002;63:469–476.10.4088/JCP.v63n0602CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, MM, Pilowsky, DJ, Wickramaratne, PJ, Talati, A, Wisniewski, SR, Fava, Met al.Remissions in maternal depression and child psychopathology: A STAR*D child report. J Am Med Assoc 2006;295:1389–1398.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.
29
Cited by

Send article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

What family studies teach us about suicidal behavior: Implications for research, treatment, and prevention
Available formats
×

Send article to Dropbox

To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox.

What family studies teach us about suicidal behavior: Implications for research, treatment, and prevention
Available formats
×

Send article to Google Drive

To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive.

What family studies teach us about suicidal behavior: Implications for research, treatment, and prevention
Available formats
×
×

Reply to: Submit a response

Please enter your response.

Your details

Please enter a valid email address.

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *