scholarly journals Are volunteering and caregiving associated with suicide risk? A Census-based longitudinal study

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Rosato ◽  
Foteini Tseliou ◽  
David M. Wright ◽  
Aideen Maguire ◽  
Dermot O’Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Record Linkage ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Linkage Study ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Cox Models ◽  
Good Mental Health ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract Background Opposing risks have been identified between different prosocial activities, with volunteering having been linked to better mental health while caregiving has been associated with higher prevalence and incidence of depression. This study explored suicide risk of people engaged in prosocial activities of caregiving and/or volunteering. Methods A Census-based record linkage study of 1,018,000 people aged 25–74 years (130,816 caregivers; 110,467 volunteers; and 42,099 engaged in both) was undertaken. Caregiving (light: 1–19; intense: ≥20 h/week), volunteering and mental health status were derived from 2011 Census records. Suicide risk (45 months follow-up) was assessed using Cox models adjusted for baseline mental health. Results Intense caregiving was associated with worse mental health (ORadj = 1.15: 95%CI = 1.12, 1.18) and volunteering with better mental health (OR = 0.87: 95%CI = 0.84, 0.89). For those engaged in both activities, likelihood of poor mental health was determined by caregiving level. There were 528 suicides during follow-up, with those engaged in both activities having the lowest risk of suicide (HR = 0.34: 95%CI = 0.14, 0.84). Engaging in either volunteering or caregiving was associated with lower suicide risk for those with good mental health at baseline (HR = 0.66: 95%CI = 0.49, 0.88) but not for their peers with baseline poor mental health (HR = 1.02: 95%CI = 0.69, 1.51). Conclusions Although an increased risk of poor mental health was identified amongst caregivers, there was no evidence of an increased risk of suicide.

scholarly journals Are Volunteering and Caregiving Associated with Suicide Risk? A Census-based Longitudinal Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S87-S87
Author(s):  
D. O’Reilly ◽  
M. Rosato ◽  
A. Maguire
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lower Risk ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Proportional Hazards ◽  
Linkage Study ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards Models ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Competing Interest

BackgroundThis record linkage study explores the suicide risk of people engaged in caregiving and volunteering. Theory suggests opposing risks as volunteering is associated with better mental health and caregiving with a higher prevalence and incidence of depression.MethodsA 2011 census-based study of 1,018,000 people aged 25–74 years (130,816 caregivers and 110,467 volunteers; 42,099 engaged in both). All attributes were based on census records. Caregiving was categorised as either light (1–19 hours/week) or more intense (20+ hours/week). Suicide risk was based on 45 months of death records and assessed using Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for and stratification by mental health status at census.ResultsMore intense caregiving was associated with worse mental health (ORadj = 1.15: 95%CI = 1.12, 1.18); volunteering with better mental health (OR 0.87; 95%CIs 0.84, 0.89). The cohort experienced 528 suicides during follow-up. Both volunteering and caregiving were associated with a lower risk of suicide though this was modified by baseline mental ill-health (P = 0.003), HR 0.66; 95%CIs 0.49, 0.88 for those engaged in either activity and with good mental health at baseline and HR 1.02; 95%CIs 0.69, 1.51 for their peers with poor mental health. There was some indication that those engaged in both activities had the lowest suicide risk (HR 0.34; 95%CIs 0.14, 0.84).ConclusionsDespite the poorer mental health amongst caregivers they are not at increased risk of suicide. The significant overlap between caregiving and volunteering and the lower risk of suicide for those engaged in both activities may indicate a synergism of action.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Parental mental health and risk of poor mental health and death by suicide in offspring

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aideen Maguire ◽  
Foteini Tseliou ◽  
Dermot O'Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Parental Mental Health ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Child Suicide ◽  
Multi Level

BackgroundSuicide is a major public health concern. Identifying those most at risk is vital for effective targeting of interventions. Mental health (MH) has a genetic component and parental MH is associated with child’s MH. However, little is known onthe effect of parental MH on a child’s risk of death by suicide. MethodsData from 2011 Northern Ireland Census was linked to 5 years’ death records (2011-2015) to construct multi-level regression models to determine if children living with parents with poor self-rated MH are at an increased risk of poor MH themselves and an increased risk of death by suicide. Results618,970 individuals live with their parents; with almost 1 in 7 (13.7%) living with parents with poor MH and 225 (0.1%) dying by suicide during follow-up. Interim results suggest after full adjustment, children with 2 parents with poor MH were5 times more likely to have poor MH themselves (OR=5.30, 95% CI 4.62,6.09), and children with 1 parent with poor MH were 67% more likely to die by suicide compared to children of parents with good MH (OR=1.67, 95%CI 1.19, 2.33). ConclusionsParental MH is associated with child suicide risk even after adjustment for their own MH status.

scholarly journals Cannabis and suicide: longitudinal study

2009 ◽  
Vol 195 (6) ◽  
pp. 492-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceri Price ◽  
Tomas Hemmingsson ◽  
Glyn Lewis ◽  
Stanley Zammit ◽  
Peter Allebeck
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Completed Suicide ◽  
Increased Risk

BackgroundSome studies suggest that cannabis use is associated with suicidal ideation, but no detailed longitudinal study has examined suicide as an outcome.AimsTo examine the association between cannabis use and completed suicide.MethodA longitudinal study investigated 50 087 men conscripted for Swedish military service, with cannabis use measured non-anonymously at conscription. Suicides during 33 years of follow-up were identified by linkage with the National Cause of Death Register.ResultsThere were 600 (1.2% of cohort) suicides or deaths from undetermined causes. Cannabis use was associated with an increased risk of suicide (crude OR for ‘ever use’ 1.62, 95% CI 1.28–2.07), but this association was eliminated after adjustment for confounding (adjusted OR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.65–1.20).ConclusionsAlthough there was a strong association between cannabis use and suicide, this was explained by markers of psychological and behavioural problems. These results suggest that cannabis use is unlikely to have a strong effect on risk of completed suicide, either directly or as a consequence of mental health problems secondary to its use.

scholarly journals School climate and mental health among Swedish adolescents: a multilevel longitudinal study

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krisztina D. László ◽  
Filip Andersson ◽  
Maria Rosaria Galanti
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
School Climate ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Social Climate ◽  
School Level ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Strengths And Difficulties

Abstract Background School is one of the most formative institutions for adolescents’ development, but whether school environment affects mental health is uncertain. We investigated the association between the school’s pedagogical and social climate and individual-level mental health in adolescence. Methods We studied 3416 adolescents from 94 schools involved in KUPOL, a longitudinal study conducted in eight regions in Sweden. School climate was reported by the school’s teaching personnel and by the final year students using the teacher and the student versions of the Pedagogical and Social Climate Questionnaire, respectively. Index persons’ mental health was assessed with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. We performed multilevel logistic regression models adjusted for individual, familial and school-level confounders measured in grade 7 and exposure and outcome measured in grades 8 and 9. Results The adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals comparing the middle and the high to the lowest tertile of the total teacher school climate score were 1.47 (1.10–1.97) and 1.52 (1.11–2.09) for depressive symptoms and 1.50 (1.08–2.08) and 1.64 (1.16–2.33) for the total strengths and difficulties score. In contrast, there was no association between total student school climate score and mental health. Conclusions We found that teacher-, but not student-rated school climate was associated with an increased risk of poor mental health at the student level; the association was most pronounced for internalizing problems. Given schools’ importance for adolescents’ development, further studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the observed association.

scholarly journals The Unmet Need for Psychotropic Medication within the Migrant Population of Northern Ireland - A Record Linkage Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kishan Patel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Psychotropic Medication ◽  
Record Linkage ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Linkage Study ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Migrant Population ◽  
Migrant Group ◽  
Migrant Groups

BackgroundA large proportion of people with mental ill-health do not receive the care that they require - constituting unmet need. Migrant populations are particularly at risk of not receiving necessary care for a range of reasons including perceptual differences and multiple barriers to health service. Main AimThis record linkage study compares the likelihood of people with poor mental health receiving psychotropic medication between migrant and settled communities and amongst different migrant groups in Northern Ireland. MethodsA cohort of 78,267 people aged 16-64 who reported chronic poor mental health in the 2011 Census records was generated and followed for the next 12 months by linkage to a centralised prescribing dataset to determine rates of treatment. All individual and household attributes were derived from Census forms. Absence of a psychotropic medication prescription from the beginning of 2011 represented unmet need. Logistic regression analyses quantified the relationship between psychotropic medication and migrant status, while accounting for relevant demographic and socio-economic factors. ResultsOverall, 86% of the settled population with chronic poor mental health received at least one psychotropic medication during the study period, compared to 67% of the equivalent population of 1,736 migrants. Although migrants were 61% less likely than the settled community to report poor mental health (OR 0.39 (95% CI 0.37 - 0.41)), those reporting poor mental health were less than one-third as likely as to be on psychotropic medication in fully adjusted models. There also existed considerable variation between individual migrant groups, with uptake of medication lowest amongst the Lithuanian migrant group (OR 0.09 (95% CI 0.05 – 0.14)), and highest amongst German migrant group (OR 1.30 (95% CI 0.87 – 1.94)). ConclusionAlthough this study suggests substantial unmet need for treatment of poor mental health amongst the migrant population of Northern Ireland this may not represent the whole story. Differences between individual migrant groups suggest that other factors may also be at play including differing approaches to treatment, or alternative routes to treatment. The implications of the study will be discussed in the paper.

scholarly journals Area factors and suicide: 5-year follow-up of the Northern Ireland population

2008 ◽  
Vol 192 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dermot O'Reilly ◽  
Michael Rosato ◽  
Sheelah Connolly ◽  
Chris Cardwell
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Record Linkage ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Linkage Study ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Population Composition ◽  
Household Factors

BackgroundSuicide rates vary markedly between areas but it is unclear whether this is due to differences in population composition or to contextual factors operating at an area level.AimsTo determine if area factors are independently related to suicide risk after adjustment for individual and family characteristics.MethodA 5-year record linkage study was conducted of 1 116 748 non-institutionalised individuals aged 16–74 years, enumerated at the 2001 Northern Ireland census.ResultsThe cohort experienced 566 suicides during follow-up. Suicide risks were lowest for women and for those who were married or cohabiting. Indicators of individual and household disadvantage and economic and health status at the time of the census were also strongly related to risk of suicide. The higher rates of suicide in the more deprived and socially fragmented areas disappeared after adjustment for individual and household factors. There was no significant relationship between population density and risk of suicide.ConclusionsDifferences in rates of suicide between areas are predominantly due to population characteristics rather than to area-level factors, which suggests that policies targeted at area-level factors are unlikely to significantly influence suicides rates.

scholarly journals Unmet need for mental health medication within the migrant population of Northern Ireland: a record linkage study

2020 ◽  
pp. jech-2019-212774
Author(s):  
Kishan Patel ◽  
Tania Bosqui ◽  
Anne Kouvonen ◽  
Michael Donnelly ◽  
Ari Väänänen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Psychotropic Medication ◽  
Record Linkage ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Linkage Study ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Migrant Population ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Migrant Groups

BackgroundMigrant populations are particularly at risk of not receiving the care for mental ill-health that they require for a range of reasons, including language and other barriers to health service access. This record linkage study compares, for migrant and settled communities, the likelihood that a person in Northern Ireland with poor mental health will receive psychotropic medication.MethodsA cohort of 78 267 people aged 16–64 years (including 1736 migrants) who reported chronic poor mental health in the 2011 Census records was followed for 15 months by linkage to a centralised prescribing data set to determine the rates of pharmacological treatment. Logistic regression analyses quantified the relationship between psychotropic medication uptake and migrant status, while accounting for relevant demographic and socioeconomic factors.ResultsOverall, 67% of the migrants with chronic poor mental health received at least one psychotropic medication during the study period, compared to 86% for the settled population; this equates to an OR of 0.32 (95% CI 0.29 to 0.36) in the fully adjusted models. Adjustment for English proficiency did not significantly alter these models. There was also considerable variation between individual migrant groups.ConclusionAlthough this study suggests substantial unmet need for treatment of poor mental health among the migrant population of Northern Ireland, further qualitative studies are required to better understand how different migrant groups respond to mental ill-health.

scholarly journals Parental mental health and risk of poor mental health and death by suicide in offspring: a population-wide data-linkage study

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dermot O'Reilly ◽  
Aideen Maguire
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Data Linkage ◽  
Linkage Study ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Status ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Increased Risk

IntroductionSuicide is a major public health concern and identifying those most at risk is vital to ensure the implementation of effective interventions. There are known associations between parental and sibling mental health but little is known on the effect of parental mental on a child’s risk of death by suicide. Objectives and ApproachThis population-wide data linkage study utilised data from the 2011 Northern Ireland Census linked to 5 years’ death records (2011-2015) to construct multi-level regression models to determine if children living with parents with poor self-rated mental health are at an increased risk of poor mental health themselves and whether they are at an increased risk of death by suicide. ResultsOf the 618,970 individuals who live with their parents, 13.7% live with parents with poor mental health, 11.6% have poor mental health themselves and 0.1% (n=225) died by suicide. Living with a parent with poor mental health was associated with likelihood of poor mental health in children. After adjustment for age, gender, physical illness, socio-economic status and own mental health status, children with 1 parent with poor mental health were 67% more likely to die by suicide compared to children of parents with good mental health (OR=1.67, 95%CI 1.19, 2.33). The effect size increases for children living with 2 parents with poor mental health. Conclusion/ImplicationsParental mental health is associated with a child’s suicide risk even after adjustment for their own mental health status. This is an at-risk group.

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