Parental suicidal death and risk of adolescent completed suicide: Sex-specific analyses

Objective: To investigate the influence of parent's death on the subsequent risk of completed suicide in the same-sex offspring during adolescence. Method: Totally 500 adolescents with completed suicide at age of 15-19 years between 1997 and 2007 were identified from the Taiwan Mortality Registration (TMR). For each case, 30 age-matched controls were randomly selected from all adolescents registered in Taiwan's Birth Registry (TBR) and were alive on the date of the case' death (index date). Information on parent's characteristics and death, if any, was also obtained from TBR and TMR, respectively. Multivariate conditional logistic regression model was used to assess the effects of parental deaths on the same-sex adolescent's risks of suicide. Result: Risk of adolescent's suicide was positively associated with both paternal (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=5.38, 95% CI=2.17-13.33) and maternal suicide (AOR=6.59, 95% CI=1.82-23.91). The corresponding risk estimates associated with paternal and maternal deaths from non-suicidal causes were much lower at 1.88 and 1.94, respectively. The risk of suicide in male youths was associated more with paternal suicidal death (AOR=8.23, 95% CI=2.96-22.90) than with maternal suicidal death (AOR=3.50, 95% CI=0.41-30.13). On the other hand, maternal suicide (AOR=9.71, 95% CI=1.89-49.94) affected more than paternal suicide death on risk of suicide in female youths (AOR=2.42, 95% CI=0.30-19.57). Conclusion: Parent's death, especially from suicide, may lead to an increased risk of adolescent suicide. A parent's suicidal death tends to pose a greater influence on his/her same-sex offspring, implying that both genetic factors and behavior mimicry might play roles in adolescent suicide.