Maternal and Paternal Psychological Distress Profiles Across Childhood and Offspring Suicide Attempt
Abstract
Importance. Parental mental health is associated with youth suicidality. Considering maternal and paternal mental health jointly, rather than examining either parent separately, may better characterize family-level risk and identify youth who could benefit from early prevention. Objective. To examine the association of joint maternal and paternal psychological distress profiles across childhood with offspring suicide attempt during adolescence and young adulthood. Design: Population-based longitudinal cohort study with 23 years of follow-up. Setting: United Kingdom. Participants. Participants in the Millennium Cohort Study with data on suicide attempt at age 17 or 23 years and parental psychological distress during early and middle childhood. Exposures: Membership in 1 of 4 joint longitudinal profiles of maternal and paternal psychological distress derived by parallel-process latent class growth analysis of repeated Kessler-6 assessments at offspring ages 3, 5, 7, 11, and 14 years: low maternal and paternal distress (low, 65.7%), moderate paternal/low maternal distress (paternal, 10.9%), moderate maternal/low paternal distress (maternal, 18.3%), and high maternal/moderate paternal distress (dual, 5.1%). Main Outcomes and Measures. Self-reported suicide attempt by offspring at age 17 or 23 years Results. Among 10,935 participants, 5,605 (51.3%) were female. Suicide attempt prevalence was 9.9%, 13.0%, 15.6%, and 21.4% in the low, paternal, maternal, and dual profiles, respectively. Compared with the low distress profile, adjusted relative risks (95% confidence intervals) was higher among offspring in the paternal (1.39 [1.17-1.65]), maternal (1.49 [1.30-1.70]), and dual (2.00 [1.64- 2.44]) dual distress profiles. Offspring in the dual distress profile had also higher risk that those in the paternal (1.44 [1.13-1.84]) or maternal (1.34 [1.09-1.66]) distress profiles. The sex-by-profile interaction was not significant. Associations did not differ significantly by offspring sex. Conclusions and Relevance. Longitudinal patterns of maternal and paternal psychological distress across childhood were jointly associated with offspring suicide attempt, with the highest risk among youth exposed to distress in both parents. Considering the mental health of both mothers and fathers across childhood may help identify youth at elevated risk and inform early suicide prevention efforts.
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BibTeX
@misc{luo2026maternal,
title = {{Maternal and Paternal Psychological Distress Profiles Across Childhood and Offspring Suicide Attempt}},
author = {Huirong Luo and Marilyn Ahun and Sherryl Goodman and Massimiliano Orri},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/p9rkj_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/p9rkj_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Maternal and Paternal Psychological Distress Profiles Across Childhood and Offspring Suicide Attempt
AU - Huirong Luo
AU - Marilyn Ahun
AU - Sherryl Goodman
AU - Massimiliano Orri
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/04
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/p9rkj_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/p9rkj_v1/
AB - Importance. Parental mental health is associated with youth suicidality. Considering maternal and paternal mental health jointly, rather than examining either parent separately, may better characterize family-level risk and identify youth who could benefit from early prevention. Objective. To examine the association of joint maternal and paternal psychological distress profiles across childhood with offspring suicide attempt during adolescence and young adulthood. Design: Population-based longitudinal cohort study with 23 years of follow-up. Setting: United Kingdom. Participants. Participants in the Millennium Cohort Study with data on suicide attempt at age 17 or 23 years and parental psychological distress during early and middle childhood. Exposures: Membership in 1 of 4 joint longitudinal profiles of maternal and paternal psychological distress derived by parallel-process latent class growth analysis of repeated Kessler-6 assessments at offspring ages 3, 5, 7, 11, and 14 years: low maternal and paternal distress (low, 65.7%), moderate paternal/low maternal distress (paternal, 10.9%), moderate maternal/low paternal distress (maternal, 18.3%), and high maternal/moderate paternal distress (dual, 5.1%). Main Outcomes and Measures. Self-reported suicide attempt by offspring at age 17 or 23 years Results. Among 10,935 participants, 5,605 (51.3%) were female. Suicide attempt prevalence was 9.9%, 13.0%, 15.6%, and 21.4% in the low, paternal, maternal, and dual profiles, respectively. Compared with the low distress profile, adjusted relative risks (95% confidence intervals) was higher among offspring in the paternal (1.39 [1.17-1.65]), maternal (1.49 [1.30-1.70]), and dual (2.00 [1.64- 2.44]) dual distress profiles. Offspring in the dual distress profile had also higher risk that those in the paternal (1.44 [1.13-1.84]) or maternal (1.34 [1.09-1.66]) distress profiles. The sex-by-profile interaction was not significant. Associations did not differ significantly by offspring sex. Conclusions and Relevance. Longitudinal patterns of maternal and paternal psychological distress across childhood were jointly associated with offspring suicide attempt, with the highest risk among youth exposed to distress in both parents. Considering the mental health of both mothers and fathers across childhood may help identify youth at elevated risk and inform early suicide prevention efforts.
ER -