(Press-News.org) TORONTO, ON –Adult children of divorce are more likely to have seriously considered suicide than their peers from intact families, suggests new research from the University of Toronto
In a paper published online this week in the journal Psychiatry Research, investigators examined gender specific differences among a sample of 6,647 adults, of whom 695 had experienced parental divorce before the age of 18. The study found that men from divorced families had more than three times the odds of suicidal ideation in comparison to men whose parents had not divorced. Adult daughters of divorce had 83 per cent higher odds of suicidal ideation than their female peers who had not experienced parental divorce.
The link between divorce and suicidal ideation was particularly strong in families where childhood stressors like parental addiction, physical abuse, and parental unemployment also occurred. For women who had not experienced these adverse childhood experiences, the association between parental divorce and suicidal ideation was no longer significant. However, even in the absence of these childhood stressors, men who had experienced parental divorce had twice the odds of having seriously considered suicide at some point in their life compared to men from intact families.
"This study suggests that the pathways linking parental divorce to suicidal ideation are different for men and women. The association between parental divorce and suicidal thoughts in men was unexpectedly strong, even when we adjusted for other childhood and adult stressors, socioeconomic status, depression and anxiety,"says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman Chair at U of T's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Department of Family and Community Medicine. "Females whose parents had divorced were not particularly vulnerable to suicidal ideation if they were not also exposed to childhood physical abuse and/or parental addictions."
Explanations for why men might be more negatively impacted by parental divorce are varied. However, researchers believe it could be due to the absence of close contact with a father which may occur post-divorce. Previous studies have linked the loss of father-figures with adverse developmental outcomes in boys. "It may be that the link between parental divorce and suicidal ideation in men is mediated through factors we cannot control for in our analyses such as childhood poverty or parental depression, both of which are more prevalent in divorced families,"says U of T masters graduate and study co-author Angela Dalton.
Fuller-Thomson cautions that "these findings are not meant to panic divorced parents. Our data in no way suggest that children of divorce are destined to become suicidal."
Researcher's note that the findings need to be confirmed by others using prospective data before any public health recommendations can be made. However, if confirmed, they would have significant clinical implications for professionals working with families experiencing parental divorce.
###
For more information, please contact:
Esme Fuller-Thomson (Study lead author)
Professor & Sandra Rotman Chair
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
University of Toronto
416 978-3269
esme.fuller.thomson@utoronto.ca
Joyann Callender
University of Toronto Media Relations
416-978-6974
joyann.callender@utoronto.ca
Parental divorce linked to suicidal thoughts
2011-01-20
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Case Western Reserve and Athersys show regenerative benefit of MultiStem after spinal cord injury
2011-01-20
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHX) announced a joint scientific study on spinal cord injury will be published today in the January issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. The study, by leading researchers from the Department of Neurosciences at the School of Medicine and scientists at Athersys, presents data supporting the potential therapeutic benefit of Athersys' MultiStem® program for spinal cord injury. Researchers observed that administration of Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells (MAPC) following spinal cord injury in ...
New reactor paves the way for efficiently producing fuel from sunlight
2011-01-20
PASADENA, Calif.—Using a common metal most famously found in self-cleaning ovens, Sossina Haile hopes to change our energy future. The metal is cerium oxide—or ceria—and it is the centerpiece of a promising new technology developed by Haile and her colleagues that concentrates solar energy and uses it to efficiently convert carbon dioxide and water into fuels.
Solar energy has long been touted as the solution to our energy woes, but while it is plentiful and free, it can't be bottled up and transported from sunny locations to the drearier—but more energy-hungry—parts ...
Malaria parasite caught red-handed invading blood cells
2011-01-20
Australian scientists using new image and cell technologies have for the first time caught malaria parasites in the act of invading red blood cells. The researchers, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), achieved this long-held aim using a combination of electron, light and super resolution microscopy, a technology platform new to Australia.
The detailed look at what occurs as the parasite burrows through the walls of red blood cells provides new insights into the molecular and cellular events ...
Fears of Ontario pharmacy shortage after slashed generic drug prices unfounded: UBC research
2011-01-20
A University of British Columbia study shows that there are enough pharmacies situated throughout Ontario communities to absorb many closures without negatively affecting geographical accessibility for residents. The research suggests concerns that reducing generic pricing could result in pharmacy shortages are unfounded.
Last summer, the Ontario government cut the price of generic drugs by half – to approximately 25 per cent of the equivalent brand – leading to heated discussions on the sustainability of existing pharmacies. Some pharmacy chains claimed they might be ...
Man, volcanoes and the sun have influenced Europe's climate over recent centuries
2011-01-20
An International research team has discovered that seasonal temperatures in Europe, above all in winter, have been affected over the past 500 years by natural factors such as volcanic eruptions and solar activity, and by human activities such as the emission of greenhouse gases. The study, with Spanish involvement, could help us to better understand the dynamics of climate change.
Up until now, it was thought that Europe's climate prior to 1900 was barely affected by external factors, but now a group of scientists has shown that natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions ...
Unfolding pathogenesis in Parkinson's
2011-01-20
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, reveals that damaged alpha-synuclein proteins (which are implicated in Parkinson's disease) can spread in a 'prion-like' manner, an infection model previously described for diseases such as BSE (mad cow disease).
"This is a significant step forward in our understanding of the potential role of cell-to-cell transfer of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis and we are very excited about the findings", says Professor Patrik Brundin at Lund University, Sweden, who led a team of investigators from ...
Neiker-Tecnalia makes progress in detection and prevention of infection by visna maedi virus
2011-01-20
Researchers at Neiker-Tecnalia (the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development) have undertaken a study on the epidemiology and diagnosis of infection by visna/maedi virus. This is a virus that affects sheep herds causing chronic interstitial pneumonia, mastitis and neurological disorders. The study confirmed that horizontal transmission (direct contact between infected animals) of the virus is the most likely path of infection, rather than vertical transmission (from infected suckling milk or colostrum). Since there is no current effective treatment against ...
Data matrix codes used to catalogue archaeological heritage
2011-01-20
The research team at the Centre for the Studies of Archaeological and Prehistoric Heritage (CEPAP) of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have implemented an innovative system to register archaeological artefacts which eliminates problems in manual markings, such as errors in writing or erosion of data. The system, based on direct labelling using bi-dimensional data matrix (DM) codes, has been used by the CEPAP team during two years, in which numerous artefacts and bone remains from sites in Spain and Africa were registered.
The marking of archaeological material, ...
Challenging the limits of learning
2011-01-20
Tel Aviv -- Although we're convinced that baby is brilliant when she mutters her first words, cognitive scientists have been conducting a decades-long debate about whether or not human beings actually "learn" language.
Most theoretical linguists, including the noted researcher Noam Chomsky, argue that people have little more than a "language organ" -- an inherent capacity for language that's activated during early childhood. On the other hand, researchers like Dr. Roni Katzir of Tel Aviv University's Department of Linguistics insist that what humans can actually learn ...
Better learning through handwriting
2011-01-20
Associate professor Anne Mangen at the University of Stavanger's Reading Centre asks if something is lost in switching from book to computer screen, and from pen to keyboard.
The process of reading and writing involves a number of senses, she explains. When writing by hand, our brain receives feedback from our motor actions, together with the sensation of touching a pencil and paper. These kinds of feedback is significantly different from those we receive when touching and typing on a keyboard.
Learning by doing
Together with neurophysiologist Jean-Luc Velay at the ...