title: Burden of separation and suicide risk of prisoners with minor children.
abstract: The present study aimed to explore the burden of separation from children and its relationship with suicide risk in prisoners with minor children at the moment of admission into the penal justice system. Suicide risk was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview in newly admitted female (n=198) and male (n=229) prisoners in Santiago de Chile. The burden of separation from minor children was rated on a numeric rating scale. Both genders showed high burden of separation from children at imprisonment. Mothers had significantly lower suicide risk than women without children. The relative risk was 0.31 (95% CI [0.16-0.6], p<0.001) to show 'high suicide risk'. There was no difference of suicide risk between imprisoned fathers and male prisoners without children. Within the group of fathers, the suicide risk associated with the burden of separation. Our study indicates that strengthening the parent role and facilitating parent-child contacts during imprisonment could be an important element of suicide prevention interventions.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité Campus Mitte Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Hospital Clínico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Sinja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development, Queen Mary University of London, UK.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Priebe
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Hospital Clínico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Rosemarie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fritsch
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile; Facultad de Medicina, Universidad San Sebastián, Chile. Electronic address: adrian.mundt@mail.udp.cl.
authors.forename: Adrian P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Mundt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide
keywords: Mental disorders; Parental; Parenthood; Prison populations; Suicide risk