Impact of addiction in family members in women’s suicide attempts: A case-control study

Background: Although the effect of drug addiction on suicide attempts has been extensively studied, not enough attention has been paid to the role of family members’ drug addiction in women’s suicide attempts.

Objectives: The present study aimed to examine the impact of drug addiction in the family on women’s suicide attempts.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 220 women, aged 15 – 65 years, with a history of suicide attempts, as well as 220 control women without a history of suicide attempts in Golestan, Iran, during 2020. Demographic characteristics, as well as data pertaining to drug abuse and mental health variables, were collected. Firth’s penalized logistic regression method was used for multivariate analysis and modeling, and the area under the curve (AUC) and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were measured to determine the added diagnostic value.

Results: The AUC increased by 4.6% by adding the variable of “addiction in the family” to the model, which consisted of variables, including the blood group, education level, living area, tobacco smoking, and experience of suicidal thoughts. Besides, the NRI was equal to 0.61.

Conclusions: Drug addiction in the family is an effective factor for suicide attempts in women. Consequently, women whose parents or partners are drug addicts are at a higher risk of suicide attempts.