Parental Psychiatric Disease and Risk of Suicide Attempts in Offspring

An analysis of a comprehensive dataset from Denmark revealed that people whose parents had a history of psychiatric illness or suicide attempts were significantly more likely to attempt suicide than people whose parents did not have such a history. The offspring of two parents with histories of mental illness or suicide attempts had twice the attempt risk of people from families in which only one parent had a history. The authors recommended that “psychiatrists and other professionals treating adults with mental disorders and suicidal behavior should consider also evaluating the mental health and psychosocial needs of their patients’ children.”

The authors suggested that the doubling of attempt risk associated with having two parents affected by mental disorders may result from (1) genetic traits passed on to offspring and/or (2) a dysfunctional family environment. Being raised in a family with a lower socioeconomic status (SES) strengthened the association between parental psychiatric illness and suicide attempts by their offspring. However, “attempted suicide risk remained elevated particularly for those exposed to parental suicide attempt or antisocial personality disorder” after adjusting for SES.

During the study period (1967–1997), 2.6 percent of the study population attempted suicide for the first time. Of those, 46.7 percent were male. The psychiatric disorders included in the analysis included personality disorders, anxiety and mood disorders, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, and dementia, as well as suicide attempts. While nearly all parental psychiatric disorders were associated with elevated suicide attempt risk among offspring, the link was strongest in relation to cannabis misuse, antisocial personality disorder, and suicide attempts. The study also reported on parental mental illness and suicide attempts as risk factors for violent criminal offending among offspring.

Mok, P. L. H., Pedersen, C. B., Springate, D., Astrup, A., Kapur, N., Antonsen, S., . . .  Webb, R. T. Parental psychiatric disease and risks of attempted suicide and violent criminal offending in offspring. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(10), 1015–1022.