HealthDay (9/15, Gotkine) reported a study found that “parental diseases of despair (DoD; i.e., substance use disorder, alcohol-related disease, or suicidal behavior) are associated with suicidal events (SE) in offspring.” The study “included 561,837 families with at least one parent diagnosed with a DoD and 1,180,546 control families, from which 817,133 and 1,744,182 children, respectively, were identified.” Researchers observed that “parental DoD exposure was associated with an increased risk for SE. Compared with youth with one affected parent, those with two parents with DoD had a larger risk for an SE. In girls aged 8 to 11 years, there was a significant age-by-sex interaction, which was not seen in boys. Higher risk for a child SE was seen with maternal versus paternal DoD.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “Parental Diseases of Despair Linked to Suicidal Events in Offspring,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, September 15, 2025