PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Teens exposed to schoolmate's death by suicide much more likely to consider or attempt suicide

Study supports idea of 'suicide contagion,' especially in 12 and 13 year olds

2013-05-21
(Press-News.org) Youth who had a schoolmate die by suicide are significantly more likely to consider or attempt suicide, according to a study in published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). This effect can last 2 years or more, which has implications for strategies following schoolmate suicides.

"We found that exposure to suicide predicts suicidality," writes senior author Dr. Ian Colman, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Epidemiology and Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa, with lead author Sonja Swanson, from Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. "This was true for all age groups, although exposure to suicide increased the risk most dramatically in the youngest age group, when baseline suicidality was relatively low."

The concept that exposure to suicide can create suicidal thoughts or actions is called "suicide contagion." Researchers looked at data from Statistics Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth on 22 064 children aged 12–17 years from across the country. They found that the suicide of a schoolmate magnifies the risk of suicidality for a young person, regardless of whether the young person personally knew the deceased. This risk was particularly strong among 12 to 13 year olds, who were 5 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts (suicide ideation) after exposure to a schoolmate's suicide than those who had had no exposure (15% v. 3%). In this age group, 7.5% attempted suicide after a schoolmate's suicide compared with 1.7% without exposure.

"Suicidality is of utmost public health concern, both as a predictor of suicide and because of its own burden on individuals and society," write the authors.

The apparent "suicide contagion" effect was less pronounced in older children, although 14 to 15 year olds exposed to suicide were still almost 3 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts, and 16 to 17 year olds were twice as likely.

"Perhaps any exposure to a peer's suicide is relevant, regardless of the proximity to the decedent," they write. "It may be best for postvention strategies to include all students rather than target close friends."

By ages 16-17 years, 24% of teens — 1 in 4 — had a schoolmate die by suicide, and 20% personally knew someone who died by suicide.

"Given that such exposure is not rare, and appears to be strongly related to suicidality outcomes, further understanding of this association has the potential to help in the prevention of a substantial proportion of adolescent suicidal behaviours," write the authors.

They conclude that broader, longer-lasting strategies are required. "Our findings support school- or community-wide interventions over strategies targeting those who personally knew the decedent, suggests that allocating resources following an event may be especially important during earlier adolescence, and implies that schools and communities should be aware of an increased risk for at least 2 years following a suicide event," the authors conclude.

In a related commentary, Dr. India Bohanna, School of Public Health, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, states that this study "provides convincing evidence that, among young people, exposure to suicide is a risk factor for future suicidal behaviour. This is extremely important because it tells us that everyone who is exposed to suicide should be considered when postvention strategies are developed."

Dr. Bohanna reiterates that strategies to limit the risk of suicide contagion are critical.

"The idea that suicide is contagious has always been controversial for various reasons; however, this important study should put many, if not all, doubts to rest. A unified and concerted effort now needs to be directed toward developing evidence-based postvention strategies. We need to know what works in mitigating the risk of contagion and why."

### END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Treatment with A1-PI slows the progression of emphysema in Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

2013-05-21
ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA─Treatment with an Alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor (A1-PI), a naturally occurring protein that protects lung tissue from breakdown and protects the lung's elasticity, is effective in slowing the progression of emphysema in patients with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), a life-threatening genetic disorder, according to a new study presented at the 2013 American Thoracic Society International Conference. The study showed the efficacy of A1-PIin preventing the loss of lung tissue as measured by computed tomography (CT) scan lung density at ...

Small but speedy: Short plants live in the evolutionary fast lane

2013-05-21
Durham, NC — Biologists have known for a long time that some creatures evolve more quickly than others. Exactly why isn't well understood, particularly for plants. But it may be that height plays a role, says Robert Lanfear of Australian National University and the U. S. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. In a study to be published 21 May in the journal Nature Communications, Lanfear and colleagues report that shorter plants have faster-changing genomes. Drawing from a database of global patterns in plant height for more than 20,000 species, the researchers estimated ...

Genetic predictors of postpartum depression uncovered by Hopkins researchers

2013-05-21
The epigenetic modifications, which alter the way genes function without changing the underlying DNA sequence, can apparently be detected in the blood of pregnant women during any trimester, potentially providing a simple way to foretell depression in the weeks after giving birth, and an opportunity to intervene before symptoms become debilitating. The findings of the small study involving 52 pregnant women are described online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. "Postpartum depression can be harmful to both mother and child," says study leader Zachary Kaminsky, Ph.D., ...

Child maltreatment increases risk of adult obesity

2013-05-21
Children who have suffered maltreatment are 36% more likely to be obese in adulthood compared to non-maltreated children, according to a new study by King's College London. The authors estimate that the prevention or effective treatment of 7 cases of child maltreatment could avoid 1 case of adult obesity. The findings come from the combined analysis of data from 190,285 individuals from 41 studies worldwide, published this week in Molecular Psychiatry. Severe childhood maltreatment (physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect) affects approximately 1 in 5 children ...

Origins of human culture linked to rapid climate change

2013-05-21
Rapid climate change during the Middle Stone Age, between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the Middle Stone Age, sparked surges in cultural innovation in early modern human populations, according to new research. The research, published this month in Nature Communications, was conducted by a team of scientists from Cardiff University's School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Barcelona. The scientists studied a marine sediment core off the coast of South Africa and reconstructed terrestrial climate variability ...

Study finds vitamin C can kill drug-resistant TB

2013-05-21
VIDEO: Dr. William Jacobs, Jr. has determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory culture. The paper was published online May 21, 2013 in Nature Communications. Dr. Jacobs... Click here for more information. May 21, 2013 — (Bronx, NY) — In a striking, unexpected discovery, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory ...

14 closely related crocodiles existed around 5 million years ago

2013-05-21
Nowadays, the most diverse species of crocodile are found in northern South America and Southeast Asia: As many as six species of alligator and four true crocodiles exist, although no more than two or three ever live alongside one another at the same time. It was a different story nine to about five million years ago, however, when a total of 14 different crocodile species existed and at least seven of them occupied the same area at the same time, as an international team headed by paleontologists Marcelo Sánchez and Torsten Scheyer from the University of Zurich is now ...

Insight into the dazzling impact of insulin in cells

2013-05-21
Australian scientists have charted the path of insulin action in cells in precise detail like never before. This provides a comprehensive blueprint for understanding what goes wrong in diabetes. The breakthrough study, conducted by Sean Humphrey and Professor David James from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, is now published in the early online edition of the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism. First discovered in 1921, the insulin hormone plays a very important role in the body because it helps us lower blood sugar after a meal, by enabling the movement ...

Study looks at risk factors for rupture or bleeding of arachnoid cysts in children

2013-05-21
Philadelphia, Pa. (May 21, 2013) – Arachnoid cysts are a common type of brain lesion that is usually harmless, but with a risk of rupture or bleeding. A new study identifies risk factors for rupture or bleeding in children with "incidentally" detected arachnoid cysts, reports the May issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Risk is higher for children with larger cysts and a recent history of even mild head trauma, according to the report ...

Warning images for cigarette packs proposed by Europe do not make enough emotional impact

2013-05-21
The warning images Brussels proposes to include on tobacco packages in order to reduce consumption do not make the desired impact on smokers because they only find some of them really unpleasant. So, if the European Commission wants to improve the efficacy of its anti-smoking campaigns, it should produce a new set of images that make a stronger emotional impact. These are some of the conclusions of research conducted in the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment at the University of Granada by Miguel Ángel Muñoz, Luis Ciria y Jaime Vila Castelar, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study tracks chromium chemistry in irradiated molten salts

Scientists: the beautiful game is a silver bullet for global health

Being physically active, even just a couple of days a week, may be key to better health

High-fat diet promote breast cancer metastasis in animal models

A router for photons

Nurses and AI collaborate to save lives, reduce hospital stays

Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model

Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

[Press-News.org] Teens exposed to schoolmate's death by suicide much more likely to consider or attempt suicide
Study supports idea of 'suicide contagion,' especially in 12 and 13 year olds