Children Who Witness Divorce More Prone to Suicide

[sujay]

The results of a large-scale scientific survey conducted on adults who witnessed the divorce of their parents before they themselves turned 18 revealed that a significant portion of these individuals entertained thoughts of suicide.

The risk was extremely high when compared to the one exhibited by peers who had not witnessed their parents' divorce. This investigation was conducted on nearly 6,650 participants, of which nearly 700 went through a divorce experience before turning 18.

Due to the large number of people involved in the researcher, scientists were also able to tease out gender-specific differences in the way each individual formulates their response to what happened.


In the case of males participants, those who experienced a divorce were 300 percent more likely than peers in families that remained together to consider serious thoughts related to taking their own life.

In women, the percentage was reduced to 83 percent, but it still represents a considerable difference from girls that grew up in normal families, PsychCentral reports. Details of the new investigation appear in the latest online issue of the esteemed scientific journal Psychiatry Research.

The researchers were also able to determine that the proportion of suicidal ideation increased in the case of former children who also saw or experienced parental addiction, physical abuse, and parental unemployment.

Interestingly enough, if no such circumstances and factors existed in the case of girls witnessing a divorce, the correlation between the split and suicide became statistically-irrelevant, the experts add.

“This study suggests that the pathways linking parental divorce to suicidal ideation are different for men and women,” explains the lead author of the investigation, scientist Esme Fuller-Thomson, MD.

“The association between parental divorce and suicidal thoughts in men was unexpectedly strong, even when we adjusted for other childhood and adult stressors, socioeconomic status, depression and anxiety,” she goes on to say.

“Females whose parents had divorced were not particularly vulnerable to suicidal ideation if they were not also exposed to childhood physical abuse and/or parental addictions,” the expert adds.

“It may be that the link between parental divorce and suicidal ideation in men is mediated through factors we cannot control for in our analyses such as childhood poverty or parental depression, both of which are more prevalent in divorced families,” adds paper coauthor Angela Dalton.

Both experts are based at the University of Toronto, in Canada. “These findings are not meant to panic divorced parents. Our data in no way suggest that children of divorce are destined to become suicidal,” Fuller-Thomson concludes.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Children-Who-Witness-Divorce-More-Prone-to-Suicide-179546.shtml

[INDRANIL]

Thanks for the interesting share sujay bro .

[Boyfriend]

Thanks sujay for interesting share

[Bearcat]

Hi Sujay, thanks for the intersting read. The results of the study are hardly surprising, as divorce is a bad deal for everyone involved. I've seen the consequences of it myself, far too many times and in lots of cases the children are emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives.

[safeguy]

I don't like to share this but since it's covered here...

My parents are divorced before I was 18 and if I remembered correctly, I was about 17 that time...about a year or 2 ago. Although I must say I've entertained 'thoughts' of suicide, it has never had to do with the divorce itself. To the contrary, I had the 'thoughts' when I was younger, at a time when my parents were still together. I faced certain personal problems (don't ask me) that were too pressurizing for me to handle at the time (I was younger then) and with the 'blank' mind that I had, suicide seemed like the 'easy way out'...

Luckily though, I still had faith within me...that tells me that throwing my life away would be a waste...nothing more than an escapade from reality. I 'chickened out' from the idea and told myself to keep it straight and look forward to what comes next in life...No one knew anything about it, except for you guys right now....

A "broken" family is not one that's easy to live with in your day-to-day scenario. However, it's a path that no one chooses to take willingly. People sometimes find it hard to communicate or get along with each other despite having lived under one roof for years. You've got to understand that when you are in such a situation....your parents didn't want things to turn out the way it is. Generally, everyone wants an "happily ever after" but that is not destined for each and every single man and woman out there. The wrong choices, the disagreements, the arguments, the conflicts etc are all part and parcel of married life. Most couple may be able to shake it off, forgive and forget and take it all as nothing more than signs of love but not all are able to do so - to take things in that manner, in that light.

If you are a child of such a family, you've got to be able to comprehend matters....and take it that even though your parents may not be 'together', the fact remains that both of them are still your parents no matter what happens...till death apart. The "my father/mother no longer loves me" quote is nothing more than a pollution of the mind.

The only reason I'm saying all of these is that I've never believed in such typical statistics that fail to show what's really going on. Those who are answering the surveys are not entirely truthful to themselves. Their reason for suicide attempts probably had nothing to do with their parents divorce and roots from oneself....and that the divorce is taken upon as an 'object' to blame upon...a way for one to excuse himself/herself from the responsibility that holds a life. It's your life...if you're going to kill it, your parents aren't at fault...no one is but yourself...

[Bearcat]

@ safeguy Thank for taking the time to give us the benefit of your personal insight. It is most informative.

[JayCub]

It is really harsh on your children when you get divorced and the best way to help them is to be there as much as possible, this doesn't make things right but goes along way to help them heal, this was 10 years ago, as adults they understand as children they felt abandoned, but i did my best and they can see that now and as adults are willing to spend time with me.
Circumstances play a major roll, communication a bigger roll.
I don't agree with divorce myself, but i do get to keep my sanity and my son's.
A child dying before a parent must be heart wrenching, somethig i could never imagine, but after reading this i will add a prayer for parents that have lost children this way.

[Bearcat]

A child dying before a parent must be heart wrenching, somethig i could never imagine, but after reading this i will add a prayer for parents that have lost children this way.

It is indeed! My mother, God bless her, went through that 2 years ago, when one of my sisters passed away from cancer. It was hard enough on us siblings and I can't imagine what she went through.

[safeguy]

A child dying before a parent must be heart wrenching, somethig i could never imagine

I'd probably sound selfish but I'd prefer my life to be taken away before my parents do since I don't have the capacity/courage to think of what my life will be without them - my mum especially. I'll prefer my mum to take care of my funeral than for me to take care of hers... I can't bear to see her lifeless in front of my eyes. She's a stronger person than I am so I'm confident that she'd be able to bear my disappearance from her life. At the very least, she gets to "send me off" knowing my condition/state rather than for her to leave me in this world clueless not knowing what's my behavior like without her presence. I can't forgive myself if I turn out to be a bad rotten apple when she's gone...

[Bearcat]

Safeguy, something tells me your mother might not agree with you!