The developmental origins of suicide mortality: a systematic review of longitudinal studies

Suicide prevention efforts generally target acute precipitants of suicide, though accumulating evidence suggests that vulnerability to suicide is partly established early in life before acute precipitants can be identified. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize evidence on early life v...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European child & adolescent psychiatry 2024-07, Vol.33 (7), p.2083-2110
Main Authors: Vidal-Ribas, Pablo, Govender, Theemeshni, Yu, Jing, Livinski, Alicia A., Haynie, Denise L., Gilman, Stephen E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adversity
Birth order
Birth weight
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Childbirth & labor
Death & dying
Higher education
Life
Low birth weight
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mortality
Parental death
Parents & parenting
Prevention programs
Prospective studies
Psychiatry
Review
Risk factors
Social services
Sociodemographics
Suicide
Suicide prevention
Suicides & suicide attempts
Systematic review
Vulnerability
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Suicide prevention efforts generally target acute precipitants of suicide, though accumulating evidence suggests that vulnerability to suicide is partly established early in life before acute precipitants can be identified. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize evidence on early life vulnerability to suicide beginning in the prenatal period and extending through age 12. We searched PubMed, Embase, PsycNet, Web of Science, Scopus, Social Services Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts for prospective studies published through January 2021 that investigated early life risk factors for suicide mortality. The search yielded 13,237 studies; 54 of these studies met our inclusion criteria. Evidence consistently supported the link between sociodemographic (e.g., young maternal age at birth, low parental education, and higher birth order), obstetric (e.g., low birth weight), parental (e.g., exposure to parental death by external causes), and child developmental factors (e.g., exposure to emotional adversity) and higher risk of suicide death. Among studies that also examined suicide attempt, there was a similar profile of risk factors. We discuss a range of potential pathways implicated in these associations and suggest that additional research be conducted to better understand how early life factors could interact with acute precipitants and increase vulnerability to suicide.
ISSN:1018-8827
1435-165X
1435-165X
DOI:10.1007/s00787-022-02092-6