The anniversary of a parent’s death appears to be associated with an increased risk of suicide among women, according to a report published today in JAMA Network Open.
“In this case-crossover study using Swedish national register data, we found evidence of an anniversary reaction among women, with an increased risk of suicide most consistently observed during the 2-day period following the anniversary of a parent’s death. Among men, we observed a reduced risk of suicide around the anniversary,” wrote Alessandra Grotta, Ph.D., of Stockholm University and colleagues.
Grotta and colleagues relied on linked data from 1990 to 2016 from multiple Swedish registers for the study. The researchers focused their analysis on adults aged 18 to 65 who had experienced the death of a parent and later died of suicide. With each adult in the study serving as his or her own control, the researchers compared the association between the anniversary of the parent’s death and suicide with the association between periods before or after the anniversary of the parent’s death and suicide.
The study included 7,694 individuals (2,255 of whom were women) who died by suicide. The median age at suicide was 55 years, and the median time between parental death and suicide was 7 years, the researchers noted.
“There was evidence of an anniversary reaction among women, with a 67% increase in the odds of suicide when exposed to the period from the anniversary to 2 days after the anniversary, compared with when not being exposed (odds ratio [OR], 1.67),” the researchers wrote. “The risk was particularly pronounced among maternally bereaved women (OR, 2.29) and women who were never married (OR, 2.08), although the latter was not statistically significant.”
Additionally, the authors found an increased risk of suicide from the day before up to the anniversary of a parent’s death for women who were aged 18 to 34 years (OR, 3.46) and those 50 to 65 years (OR, 2.53) when their parent died. Suicide risk for men was lower from the day before up to the anniversary (OR, 0.57).
“Although the loss of a parent during childhood has received attention in previous research, bereavement following the loss of a parent experienced during adulthood has been largely overlooked,” Grotta and colleagues wrote. “These findings suggest that families and social and health care professionals need to consider anniversary reactions in suicide prevention among adults who have lost a parent, especially bereaved women.”
For related information, see the Psychiatric Services article “Underutilization of Mental Health Services Among Bereaved Caregivers With Prolonged Grief Disorder.”
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