Parental suicide attempts and offspring mental health problems in childhood and adolescence

Bibliographic Data

ID21344269
AuthorsAna Ortin‐Peralta (0000-0003-0825-6003, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology Yeshiva University The Bronx NY USA, corresponding author), Martta Kerkelä (0000-0002-1181-2632, Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience University of Oulu Oulu Finland), Juha Veijola (0000-0002-4139-9981, Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience University of Oulu Oulu Finland), Mika Gissler (0000-0001-8254-7525, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare Helsinki Finland), Andre Sourander (0000-0003-0361-7244, Research Centre for Child Psychiatry University of Turku Turku Finland), Cristiane S Duarte (0000-0001-7214-4255, New York State Psychiatric Institute Columbia University Irving Medical Center New York NY USA)
Year2023
Volume64
Issue6
Pages886-894
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9630 • E-ISSN: 1469-7610
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jcpp.13743
PMID36567634
OpenAlexW4312196296
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited40

BACKGROUND: The relationship between parental suicide attempts and offspring suicide risk has been established. However, the impact of parental suicide attempts on mental health problems in offspring as youth remains unexplored. This study examined the prospective association between parental suicide attempts and offspring internalizing, externalizing, and attention/hyperactivity problems in childhood and adolescence. We also examined how offspring mental health problems in childhood mediated the association between parental suicide attempts and offspring mental health problems in adolescence. METHODS: A subsample of 6,381 (48.4% female) cohort members with complete data on mental health problems in childhood and adolescence was extracted from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 Study. Offspring mental health problems were assessed via teacher's Rutter B2 scale during the childhood assessment (child's age of 8) and the Youth Self-Report scale (child's age of 15/16). Information about first parental suicide attempts was collected using ICD codes from hospital discharge records. RESULTS: Lifetime parental suicide attempts during the study period (N = 95) were associated with offspring internalizing, externalizing, and attention/hyperactivity problems in adolescence. Parental suicide attempts before the childhood assessment (N = 55) were associated with offspring behavioral problems in childhood [B (95% CI) = .64 (0.08-1.28)]. In the mediation models, parental suicide attempts before the childhood assessment had a significant indirect effect on offspring externalizing [B (95% CI) = .03 (0.01-0.05)] and attention/hyperactivity problems [B (95% CI) = .02 (0.01-0.04)] in adolescence via offspring behavioral problems in childhood. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of assessing and monitoring mental health problems in offspring whose parents have been hospitalized for attempting suicide. Among children with behavioral problems, clinicians should inquire about parental history of suicide attempts, as children with familial vulnerability to suicide may develop externalizing and attention/hyperactivity problems in adolescence

Developmental psychology · Injury prevention · Mediation · Medical emergency · Mental health · Offspring · Poison control · Pregnancy · Psychiatry · Rutter · Suicide prevention · Clinical Psychology · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Medicine · Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

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