Abstract
BackgroundFamily history of suicide attempt is one of the risks of suicide. We aimed at exploring the characteristics of Japanese suicide attempters with and without a family history of suicide attempt.MethodsSuicide attempters admitted to an urban emergency department from 2003 to 2008 were interviewed by two attending psychiatrists on items concerning family history of suicide attempt and other sociodemographic and clinical information. Subjects were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of a family history of suicide attempt, and differences between the two groups were subsequently analyzed.ResultsOut of the 469 suicide attempters, 70 (14.9%) had a family history of suicide attempt. A significantly higher rate of suicide motive connected with family relations (odds ratio 2.21, confidence interval 1.18–4.17, p < .05) as well as a significantly higher rate of deliberate self-harm (odds ratio 2.51, confidence interval 1.38–4.57, p < .05) were observed in patients with a family history of suicide compared to those without such history. No significant differences were observed in other items investigated.ConclusionThe present study has revealed the characteristics of suicide attempters with a family history of suicide attempt. Further understanding of the situation of such individuals is expected to lead to better treatment provision and outcomes, and family function might be a suitable focus in their treatment.
Highlights
History of suicide attempt is one of the risks of suicide
Suicidal behavior is known to aggregate in families, and both genetic and nongenetic factors responsible for familial transmission of suicidal behavior should be discernible among suicide attempters and may be suitable targets for preventive therapeutic intervention [9]
Among the original sample of 584 patients, data from 115 patients (20%) were not submitted due to lack of information regarding the presence of a family history of suicide attempt
Summary
History of suicide attempt is one of the risks of suicide. We aimed at exploring the characteristics of Japanese suicide attempters with and without a family history of suicide attempt. Suicide risk has been reported to be associated with single marital status [2], indebtedness, unemployment [3], lower social class, male gender [4], somatic illness and psychiatric disorder [5], and history of a suicide attempt [6,7]. In addition to these risk factors, there is growing recognition that suicide and suicidal behavior (any deliberate action with potentially life-threatening consequences) tend to be familial [8,9,10,11,12]. Suicidal behavior is known to aggregate in families, and both genetic and nongenetic factors responsible for familial transmission of suicidal behavior should be discernible among suicide attempters and may be suitable targets for preventive therapeutic intervention [9]
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