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Childhood hardships increase risk for suicide

Childhood aversity, such as residential instability and parental suicide, increased risk for suicide in adolescence or young adulthood, according to recent findings.

“Despite the overall decline in suicide rates in Western countries during the past decades, there has not been a similar decline among adolescents and young adults,” Charlotte Björkenstam, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues wrote. “Suicide in young people is increasing and is ranked as one of the leading causes of death in those aged 15 to 29. Identification of the most likely risk factors for suicide early in life has important implications for future public health interventions.”

To assess associations between childhood adversity, school performance, child psychopathology and risk for suicide, researchers conducted a cohort study of Swedish medical birth register data and Swedish population-based registers for 548,721 individuals born from 1987 to 1991.

Adjusted incidence rate ratios for associations between childhood adversity and suicide in adolescence and young adulthood ranged from 1.6 (95% CI, 1.1-2.4) for residential instability to 2.9 (95% CI, 1.4-5.9) for suicide in the family.

Researchers noted a dose-response relation between accumulating childhood adversity and risk: 1.1 (95% CI, 0.9-1.4) for participants exposed to one adversity, 1.9 (95% CI, 1.4-2.5) for two adversities, and 2.6 (95% CI, 1.9-3.4) for three or more adversities.

The association between childhood adversity and suicide risk remained when adjusting for school performance and childhood psychopathology.

“This study provides clear evidence that childhood adversities that are common in the general population are associated with an increased risk for suicide in adolescents and young adults. The risk is markedly increased in young people exposed to cumulative adversities,” the researchers wrote. “These results emphasize the importance of understanding the social mechanisms of mental health morbidity and suicide and the need for developing effective interventions, aiming to alleviate the risk of suicide in disadvantaged children.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.