Familial Aggregation of Suicidal Behavior: a Family Study of Male Suicide Completers From the General Population

This study compared suicidality in families of adult male suicide completers & community comparison subjects. 247 relatives of 25 male suicide completers & 171 relatives of 25 matched comparison subjects were assessed for recurrent risk of suicidal & related behaviours. Relatives of suicide completers were over 10 times more likely than relatives of comparison subjects to attempt or complete suicide after the authors controlled for psychopathology. Relatives of suicide completers had more severe suicidal ideation than relatives of comparison subjects. These findings were stronger for the suicide completers diagnosed with Cluster B personality disorders. (21 refs.)