Parental Intoxication and Adolescent Suicidal Behavior

The objective of this study was to explore whether parental heavy drinking is associated with suicidal behavior in adolescents, and if so, whether this association is stronger among younger adolescents and whether a possible impact of one parent's intoxication adds to that of the other parent. Two cross-sectional school surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2004 in Norway and comprised 11,637 and 20,703 students, respectively (ages 13 to 19). Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts increased with increasing exposure to parental intoxication, after controlling for adolescents' intoxication frequency. The association between exposure to parental intoxication and suicidal ideation was significantly stronger among younger than among older adolescents. There was a significant positive correlation between frequency of mother's and father's intoxication. Hence, exposure to one parent's intoxication did not add to the impact of the other on suicidal ideation. The results suggest that parental heavy drinking is a risk factor for adolescents' suicidal behavior, and more so for younger than older adolescents.