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Although studies consistently show higher risk for suicidal behavior among offspring of parents who display suicidal behavior, unpacking the genetic as opposed to the environmental contributions to these processes has been difficult.
To examine the intergenerational transmission of risk for suicidal behavior, investigators used several Swedish registries that included more than 2.7 million unique offspring born to more than 1.4 million mothers and 1.4 million fathers between 1973 and 2000. Offspring of parents who had records of suicidal behavior were compared with the general population and then to their full and half cousins. Twins data were used for sensitivity analyses to test statistical models. Behavioral genetic analyses were adjusted…