“The adversities suffered during childhood are a risk factor for suicide during adolescence and adulthood; especially if we talk about accumulated problems ”. It is the main conclusion of the study 'Childhood adversity and risk of suicide: cohort study of 548.721 adolescents and young adults in Sweden', recently published in The British Medical Journal.
Substance abuse by parents, or that they suffer from a psychiatric disorder, and a death in the family (among others) are considered risk factors. In general, their identification can have important implications for preventive public health interventions. And it is that, although suicide rates have decreased in recent decades, among the adolescent population or young adults, this effect has not happened.
This research has taken into account about 550.000 Swedish people born between 1987 and 1991. And during the study period (until they were 24 years old) their health was monitored. In this time, there were 431 suicides, and the authors investigated the relationship between them and seven indicators of adversity that people had experienced from birth to age 14.
In addition to the factors mentioned above, it also includes parental separation, instability in the place of residence, single-parent families, or being beneficiaries of social assistance. The study aims to provide elements for reflection in order to understand social factors of morbidity and suicide, so that later it is possible to alleviate the risk, through preventive policies and public health in general.
It is important to understand that it is not so clear that the adversities suffered during childhood are related to more deaths by suicide, but rather the association is with risk. The research has been developed by Charlotte Björkenstam, Kyriaki Kosidou and Emma Björkenstam, from the Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm / Sweden).
Finally, remember that here we have also talked about the Protective factors regarding that danger.