Several studies have found that individuals whose parents died by suicide are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, or self-harm. Risk factors for suicide after parental suicide may include points in the life course when reminders of the deceased trigger grief resurgence.
Now, a new study from UCL finds that this risk may be particularly elevated when the individual reaches the same age at which the parent died by suicide. Contemporary models of grief recognize that individuals experience grief in a non-linear, dynamic way, moving back and forth between different stages.
The findings suggest that the increased risk of suicidal behavior in individuals at the age their parent died may reflect a period of heightened emotional distress and loss.
The researchers analyzed national data from five Danish registries to study individuals whose parents died between 1980 and 2016. They focused on two groups: 17,806 individuals whose parents died by suicide and 452,674 whose parents died from other causes. The study compared the risk of self-harm and suicide in the year before and after individuals reached the age at which their parents died, with a 15-year period before and after that age.
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The median age at which individuals reached their deceased parent’s age was 24 years after the loss. The study found that those whose parents died by suicide had about twice the risk of self-harm or suicide when they reached their parent’s age compared to the 15 years before or after that period. In contrast, those whose parents died from other causes did not show an increased risk at that time.
Researchers noted, “Our findings support the practice of asking suicide-bereaved individuals about age at parental suicide, identifying this as an anticipated period of increased risk and planning increased support.”
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“This is also an opportunity to reinforce that suicide is not inevitable after the suicide of a parent, with the absolute risk of suicide in offspring of suicide decedents estimated at less than 1%.”
Journal Reference:
- Yanakan Logeswaran, Keltie McDonald, Julie Cerel et al. Risk of self-harm and suicide on reaching the age at which a parent died by suicide or other causes: A Danish, population-based self-controlled case series study. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. DOI: 10.1111/sltb.13135
