Mental health professionals have long wondered about the
impact of changing residences on children. An article published in Medical News
Today June 5, 2009, “Changing Residences Associated With Increased Risk Of
Suicidal Behavior Among Children,” examines this issue. The results of this
study were published in the June 2009 issue of Archives of General
Psychiatry. The researchers
studied, “…..data from Danish
national registries to identify all children born between 1978 and 1995.
Between 11 and 17 years of age, 4,160 of these children attempted suicide based
on hospital records, and 79 completed suicide. For each suicide attempt or
completion, the researchers selected 30 control children who were the same sex
and age.” And the results? “….Compared
with the control children, those who attempted suicide were more likely to have
changed residences frequently-55.2 percent of suicidal children and 32 percent
of controls had moved more than three times, and 7.4 percent had moved more
than 10 times (compared with 1.9 percent of controls). Frequent moves were also
more common among children who completed suicide….A dose-response relationship
was observed for both attempted and completed suicide, meaning that the more
often a child changed addresses, the more likely he or she was to have
attempted or completed suicide. The associations remained significant after the
researchers controlled for other factors, such as birthplace and parents'
mental health.” There are several important implications of this study. First,
parents of adolescent children should greatly minimize the number of times that
they change residences during the children’s adolescent years. Second, school
professionals who have new children in their classroom who have reported
frequent family moves, should be alert to the possibility of suicidal thinking.
Third, mental health professionals who treat suicidal adolescents should
investigate how many times these patients have changed residences. And, fourth,
public health professionals should educate parents about the risks of frequent
moves on their adolescent children’s mental health. The researchers conclude,
“…..The breakdown of connections with peers, discontinuation of group
activities, distress and worries related to the new environment are potentially
psychologically distressing events for young children. Frequent exposures to
these events can be stressful and confusing and may affect their psychosocial
well-being, thus increasing their intention toward ending their life if they
are unable to cope…In addition, moving is stressful for parents and may result
in their inability to attend to their children's emotional needs….Children may
feel ignored and have no one to communicate with. A suicide attempt may, to
some extent, express the need for more attention from their parents."
The Bottom Line: The results of this
study suggest that adolescents who change residences frequently may be at risk
of suicidal behaviors.
Reference: Original article
Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:
- Stress and the Human Brain
- Early Life Stress and the Immune System
- The Facts About Major Depressive Disorder
- The Parent's Guide to Understanding Adolescent Depression
Sources: See blogposts in Psychiatric Disorders: General, Depression
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Dr. Jeffrey Speller Dr. Tanya Korkosz
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