Suicide attempts and retrospective reports about parent-child relationships: evidence for the affectionless control hypothesis

Objective: To compare the characteristics of recalled parent-child relationships in suicide attempters vs. non-attempters Methods: A total of 509 patients – 249 presenting with pain at a psychosomatic clinic and 260 from the offices of general practitioners – were interviewed retrospectively about suicide attempts and parent-child relationships. Results: The overall rate of those reporting a suicide attempt was 17%. Bivariate analyses showed associations of poor parent-child relationships with suicide attempts throughout. In a multivariate analysis, the combinations high maternal control*low perceived love (p<.001) and high control*high role reversal (p=.002) were associated with particularly elevated risks for suicide attempts. Conclusion: Beside the two most extensively explored dimensions of parent-child relationships, parental affection and control, one other dimension, role reversal, also contributes strongly to risk for offspring suicide attempts and should be considered in future studies.