Citation

Crandall M, Sridharan L, Schermer C. Arch. Suicide Res. 2010; 14(3): 248-260.

Affiliation

Division of Trauma and Critical Care, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, International Academy of Suicide Research, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13811118.2010.494143

PMID

20658378

Abstract

Our hypothesess were that modifiable societal risk factors would contribute to depression and thoughts of death (DTD) and that DTD would affect maternal and infant well-being. Retrospective database analysis with bivariate and multivariate statistics utilizing 3 years of data from the prospective Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Eight hundred and eighty mothers (18%) were clinically depressed; of these, 286 (33%) reported thoughts of death. DTD were significantly associated with family violence and alcohol use; a combination of DTD with family violence or maternal alcohol use markedly increased the risk of infant hospitalization (p-value <0.001). The association of DTD with problems of violence, substance abuse, and health outcomes underscores the complex relationships among these risk factors. Routine screening for these issues should be implemented.

Language: en