Are Adoptees at Increased Risk for Attempting Suicide?

This study addresses the controversy of whether adopted adolescents are at risk for more mental health problems than the nonadopted and specifically evaluates differences in suicide ideation and depression. Same gender comparisons were made between 346 adopted adolescents and nearly 14,000 others living with biological parents, with nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Results showed few divergences in suicide ideation, attempts, and depression between adopted and nonadopted adolescents and young adults. Future studies employing this same dataset will need to pay closer attention to the high percentages of respondents adopted by blood relatives, which only became known with the collection of the Wave III Add Health data.