Nature and Nurture in Suicide Attempts

Ambiguity and controversy permeate discussions about how genetics and environment might each contribute to suicidal behavior. Using three decades of Swedish registry data, these investigators compared the histories of 2516 adoptees who had at least one biological parent who died by suicide or was hospitalized for suicidal behavior (S+) and 5875 adoptees who had a biological parent with psychiatric hospitalization but never for a suicide attempt (S–).

Lifetime psychiatric hospitalizations for all causes were similar for S+ and S– adoptees (17% and 16%). Analyses also examined the long-term effect of adoptive parents' psychiatric hospitalizations when the adoptees were children (age, <18 years). Among adoptees with psychiatrically hospitalized…