Death by Unnatural Causes During Childhood and Early Adulthood in Offspring of Psychiatric Inpatients

This study investigated cause-specific deaths at 1 to 25 years in offspring of Danish parents previously admitted as psychiatric inpatients. A population-based cohort study was conducted. The highest observed relative risk was for homicide in young & older children with affected mothers or fathers. In almost one-fourth of the suicides, there was a history of parental admission. Young adults with 2 previously admitted parents were 6 times more likely to die by suicide than were their peers in the general population. Relative risk of suicide or open-verdict deaths by poisoning were higher than for such deaths occurring by other means. (36 refs.)