Risk Factors and Pathways Leading to Suicide With Special Focus in Schizophrenia: The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study

This study investigated risk factors, developmental pathways, & the rate of attempted or completed suicide in a longitudinal population-based prospective birth cohort in Finland. Data was collected prospectively for 10,934 individuals, born in 1966, & alive & resident in Finland at age 16. A total of 121 suicide attempts & 69 suicides had occurred by the end of 2005. A single-parent family was a risk factor for attempted suicides & grand multiparity for suicides in male offspring. Adolescent regular smoking was associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts in both genders & for suicide among males. The suicide rate in new-onset schizophrenia followed until the age of 39 was 7%. Over two-thirds of the suicides took place during the first 3 years of the illness. JA

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