Abstract
BACKGROUND: A family history of completed suicide and psychiatric illness has been identified as risk factors for suicide. AIMS: To examine the risk of offspring suicide in relation to parental history of suicide and other parental risk factors. METHOD: The study population consisted of 7,177 adult offspring born 1959-1961 and their parents from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort. Cohort members and their parents who had committed suicide were identified in the Danish Causes of Death Registry (follow-up until December 31, 2005), while information on psychiatric hospitalisation history was obtained from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register. RESULTS: Forty-eight cohort members, 77 mothers and 133 fathers had committed suicide during the follow-up. Independent of parental psychiatric illness and social status, parental suicide significantly increased suicide risk in offspring (hazard ratio 4.40 with 95% CI 1.81-10.69). A stronger effect of parental suicide was observed in offspring without a history of psychiatric hospitalisation. CONCLUSION: Parental history of suicide is a risk factor for suicide in offspring, but primarily in offspring without psychiatric hospitalisation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 748-751 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- adults
- adult children
- cause of death
- children
- child of impaired parents
- cohort studies
- Denmark
- fathers
- female
- hospitalization
- hospitals
- psychiatric
- male
- mental disorders
- mothers
- registries
- risk factors
- sex factors
- suicide