Perception of rejecting and neglectful parenting in childhood relates to lifetime suicide attempts for females--but not for males.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the hypothesis that lifetime suicide attempts in a sample of depressed individuals is greater among those who remember their parents as rejecting or neglecting in childhood.


METHODS
Database analyses of patients referred to a public hospital Mood Disorders Unit in Sydney, over a consecutive 10-year period. Patients met DSM-IV criteria for depression, had completed a self-report questionnaire regarding perception of parental rearing, and had responded to a probe question assessing lifetime suicide attempts (n = 343).


RESULTS
Female patients who perceived themselves as rejected/neglected by either parent in childhood had a greater chance of making at least one lifetime suicide attempt. No such associations were found for males.


CONCLUSIONS
Perception of rejecting/neglectful parents was associated with lifetime suicide attempts in females only, inviting research explicating any such gender specificity.
Ehnvall
A
A
Research and Development Unit, FoU, Varberg Hospital, Varberg, Sweden. anna.ehnvall@lthalland.se
Parker
G
G
Hadzi-Pavlovic
D
D
Malhi
G
G
D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D015995:Prevalence; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*