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Parental suicide attempts and offspring's risk of attempting or dying by suicide: does the timing of a parental suicide attempt matter?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2021

Ana Ortin-Peralta Open the ORCID record for Ana Ortin-Peralta [Opens in a new window] ,
Markus Keski-Säntti ,
Mika Gissler ,
Juha Veijola ,
Andre Sourander  and
Cristiane S. Duarte
Ana Ortin-Peralta*
Affiliation:
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
Markus Keski-Säntti
Affiliation:
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
Mika Gissler
Affiliation:
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland Department of Neurobiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Juha Veijola
Affiliation:
Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Andre Sourander
Affiliation:
Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Cristiane S. Duarte
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Ana Ortin-Peralta, E-mail: ana.ortinperalta@yu.edu
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Abstract

Background

Studies on the transmission of suicide risk have focused on parental history of suicide attempts (SAs), overlooking when the attempt happened. This study examined how the offspring's risk of attempting or dying by suicide varied by the timing of a first parental SA and the sex of the parent who attempted suicide.

Methods

Participants were 59 469 members of the 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort. The Finnish Hospital Discharge and Cause of Death Registers were the sources for parental and offspring SAs and offspring suicide. Timing of parental SA was coded as before (pre-pregnancy and pregnancy) and after the child's birth [infant/toddler years (0–2 years), childhood (3–11 years), adolescence (12–17 years), and young adulthood (18–26 years)].

Results

In the multivariate models, having a parent who attempted suicide increased the offspring's risk of attempting suicide (odds ratio (OR) = 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39–2.25), but not of dying by suicide. Compared to unexposed offspring, those exposed after child's birth were at higher risk of attempting suicide (OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.46–2.47), specifically when the parent attempted during offspring's childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. A first maternal SA increased offspring's risk of attempting suicide regardless of the timing.

Conclusions

The impact of a parental SA on offspring's risk of attempting suicide differed depending on the timing and sex of the parent who attempted suicide, suggesting that the transmission of suicide risk may occur through genetic as well as environmental factors. Our findings call for an intergenerational approach in suicide risk assessment.

Keywords

Attempted suicidedevelopmental epidemiologyintergenerational transmissionsuicide
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , February 2023 , pp. 977 - 986
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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