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Importance: Clarification of the joint influence of familial patterns of suicide attempts and comorbid mental disorders can enhance the understanding and prevention of suicide attempts.Objective: To investigate the familial patterns of suicide attempts and comorbid mental disorders and their associations in a 2-site family study of mood and anxiety disorders.Design, Setting, and Participants: Data were obtained from 2 parallel community-based family studies conducted in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH] study) and in Lausanne, Switzerland (PsyCoLaus study), on the comorbidity of mood and anxiety disorders. The study sample comprised 1119 adult probands and 5355 first-degree relatives. Data were collected and analyzed from October 2004 to December 2016.Main Outcomes and Measures: Lifetime suicide attempt and mental disorders in first-degree relatives, obtained through direct interviews or family history reports.Results: The study included 1119 adult probands (675 female [60.3%] and a mean [SD] age of 50 [12.0] years) and 5355 first-degree relatives (2752 female [51.4%] and a mean [SD] age of 52 [1.5] years). Of these participants, 90 (8.0%) of 1119 probands and 199 (3.7%) of 5355 relatives had a lifetime history of suicide attempt. Those with such a history had higher rates of all mental disorders, a greater number of disorders, and statistically significantly poorer current and lifetime global functioning. After adjustment for age and sex, a statistically significant association between suicide attempts in probands and in relatives was found at the NIMH site (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.5-4.7), at the Lausanne site (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.6-6.0), and in the combined data (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.9-4.5). All mood disorder subtypes and substance use disorders were statistically significantly associated with suicide attempts. The familial association between lifetime suicide attempts in probands and relatives was not statistically significant for the combined sample (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0-2.7) after adjustment for comorbid conditions in probands and relatives. Social anxiety disorder in probands was associated with suicide attempts in relatives (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.7-3.5) after controlling for comorbid mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders.Conclusions and Relevance: Familiality of suicide attempts appears to be explained by a history of mental disorders among those with suicide attempts; the novel finding of a common familial diathesis for suicide attempts and social anxiety, particularly in combination with mood disorders, has heuristic value for future research and may be a risk marker that can inform prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the prevalence of reported suicide attempts among family members of individuals with an eating disorder (ED). 1870 individuals presenting for ED treatment reported whether their family members ever made a suicide attempt using the Eating Disorders Questionnaire. A lifetime suicide attempt by any family member was reported by 10.8% (n5202) of the sample and ranged from 7.0% of those with eating disorder not otherwise specified to 16.1% of those with purging disorder. Controlling for age and gender, individuals with bulimia nervosa had a higher prevalence of any familial suicide attempt and mother suicide attempt than individuals with EDNOS; no other differences were observed across ED diagnoses. There were no differences in prevalence of reported suicide attempts made by fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, or aunts by ED diagnosis. Findings support a growing literature indicating a familial association between EDs and suicide risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the trained nurse as a new profession for women coincided with the transformation of hospitals from refuges for the sick and poor into treatment facilities. The hospital was an apt setting for learning nursing's fundamentals, but the domestic demands of the setting soon took precedence over nursing education. Nursing superintendents struggled to honor the right of pupil nurses to an education over the might of the hospital's demands. The 20th anniversary of the Trained Nurse Movement in 1893 proved the decisive moment when nursing superintendents created professional associations and gathered the nursing diaspora into a coherent force. Recourse to the law followed with nurses seeking legal validation of their authority over nursing education. Now, as then, a nurse's authority is a right that has to be protected when the might of individuals and institutions, both subtle and blatant, interferes with nurses caring for the well-being of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the cause-specific deaths among young suicide attempters from the general population, and the time window for intervention to reduce the elevated rate of death was unclear. We analyzed a nationally representative sample of young adults (17–39 years old) who participated in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988–1994) and were followed up with vital status through December 31, 2006. The history of attempted suicide was associated with an increased rate for all-cause death (HR = 1.52 [95% CI = 0.92–2.52]) with borderline statistical significance. Previous suicide attempters experienced a 3-fold (HR = 2.68[=1.01–7.09]) increased rate for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and a 7-fold (HR = 7.10 [95% CI = 1.37–36.9]) increased rate of death due to completed suicide compared with non-attempters. The survival curves of the attempters declined rapidly for the first 3 years of follow-up, and the distance between curves remained consistent starting from the third year to the end of the follow-up. Prevention services should be tailored not only for suicide, but also for cardiovascular diseases among populations with suicidal tendency, and the service should be intensified within first 3 years after suicidal behaviors occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]