Suicide attempts and retrospective reports about parent-child relationships: evidence for the affectionless control hypothesis.
Year: 2007
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristics of recalled parent-child relationships in suicide attempters vs. non-attempters METHODS: A total of 509 patients - 249 presenting with pain at a psychosomatic clinic and 260 from the offices of general practitioners - were interviewed retrospectively about suicide attempts and parent-child relationships. RESULTS: The overall rate of those reporting a suicide attempt was 17%. Bivariate analyses showed associations of poor parent-child relationships with suicide attempts throughout. In a multivariate analysis, the combinations high maternal control*low perceived love (p<.001) and high control*high role reversal (p=.002) were associated with particularly elevated risks for suicide attempts. CONCLUSION: Beside the two most extensively explored dimensions of parent-child relationships, parental affection and control, one other dimension, role reversal, also contributes strongly to risk for offspring suicide attempts and should be considered in future studies.
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: J Hardt, U T Egle, J G Johnson
Institution: Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W58552903