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Youth suicide attempts and the dose–response relationship to parental risk factors: a population-based study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2010

E. Christiansen ,
R. D. Goldney ,
A. L. Beautrai  and
E. Agerbo
E. Christiansen*
Affiliation:
Clinic of Suicide Prevention, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, Denmark
R. D. Goldney
Affiliation:
Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, South Australia
A. L. Beautrai
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
E. Agerbo
Affiliation:
National Centre for Register-Based Research, University of Aarhus, Denmark
*
*Address for correspondence: E. Christiansen, M.Sc., Clinic of Suicide Prevention, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, Bjergegade 15, 1 sal, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

There is a lack of specific knowledge about the dose–response effect of multiple parental risk factors for suicide attempts among children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to determine the dose–response effect of multiple parental risk factors on an offspring's risk for suicide attempt.

Method

We designed a population-based two-generation nested case–control study and used Danish register data. A population of 403 431 individuals born between 1983 and 1989 was sampled. Among these, 3465 (0.8%) were registered as having had a suicide attempt. Twenty controls were matched to each case and a link to the offspring's biological parents was established.

Results

There was a dose–response relationship between the number of exposures and the risk of suicide attempts, with the increased risk seeming to be a multiplicative effect. Parental suicide, suicide attempt, psychiatric illness and low level of income were all significant independent risk factors for offspring's suicide attempts.

Conclusions

Knowledge of the effect of multiple risk factors on the likelihood of suicide attempts in children and adolescents is important for risk assessment. Dose–response effects of multiple parental risk factors are multiplicative, but it is rare for children and adolescents to be exposed to multiple parental risk factors simultaneously. Nevertheless, they should be considered along with the offspring's own multiple risk factors in determining the overall risk of a suicide attempt. Further research incorporating both parental and offspring's risk factors is indicated to determine the overall dose–response effect of multiple risk factors.

Keywords

Dose–responseyouth suicide attemptsparental risk factors
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , February 2011 , pp. 313 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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