Systematic Literature Review of Attempted Suicide and Offspring.

Ingeborg Lunde,Marte Myhre Reigstad,Kristin Frisch Moe,Tine Grimholt

doi:10.3390/ijerph15050937

Abstract

Background: Exposure to parental suicide attempt is associated with higher risks of adverse outcomes like lower educational performance, drug abuse and delinquent behavior. When a patient is hospitalized after a suicide attempt, this presents a unique opportunity to identify whether the patient has children, and thereby provide adequate follow-up for both the parent/patient and their children. The objective of this paper was to review the existing literature on follow-up measures for children subjected to parental suicide attempt. Methods: In line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, we conducted a systematic literature search. Results: The search resulted in a total of 1275 article titles, of which all abstracts were screened. Out of these, 72 full text papers were read, and a final four articles were included. Three of the included papers described parts of the same study from an emergency department in The Hague, where a protocol was implemented for monitoring and referring children of parents attempting suicide. The fourth article described the association between maternal attempted suicide and risk of abuse or neglect of their children. Conclusions: The lack of research in this particular area is striking. The circumstances surrounding a parent’s suicide attempt call for appropriate familial care.

Highlights

IntroductionEmpirical literature has only described this situation for adult family members and commonly reports constant worrying, being on guard day and night, taking responsibility for activities of daily living and trying to create a nurturing environment for the suicidal relative [3]
The main objectives of these studies were to detect child abuse among parents admitted to emergency departments based for domestic violence, substance abuse or suicide attempt/self-harm
No limitations were placed on study quality, we only found four studies that addressed children of parents hospitalized with a suicide attempt

Summary

Introduction

Empirical literature has only described this situation for adult family members and commonly reports constant worrying, being on guard day and night, taking responsibility for activities of daily living and trying to create a nurturing environment for the suicidal relative [3]. They try to prevent a reattempted suicide and perceive this as a significant burden [4,5]. The objective of this paper was to review the existing literature on follow-up measures for children subjected to parental suicide attempt. 72 full text papers were read, and a final four articles were included

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion