According to a study published by the American Psychological Association, it was found that children of parents with alcohol-abusing habits were 85 percent more likely to attempt suicide than those who had parents who did not abuse alcohol. In addition, compared to those whose parents were not divorced they would have attempted to take his or her life compared to those whose parents were not divorced, having divorced parents increased the risk of suicide by 14 percent, but putting the two factors together – parental alcohol abuse and divorce – was not associated with an increase in suicide attempts. The study is based on published in the American Psychological Association. “These findings emphasize the need for comprehensive client and family assessments by clinicians to identify people who need special interventions early on.” Dana, Ph.D., lead author at Columbia University, said, “Individuals with divorced parents or alcohol abuse may be more likely to commit suicide than intact or non-alcoholic families. Prevention and treatment efforts need to accurately identify target groups at risk.” The researchers assessed the history of depressed participants by asking if they felt sad for a period of time lasting at least two weeks; if they were not caring about things they thought were important or if they no longer liked what they liked; other questions were based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for depression. To determine whether the participants’ parents abused alcohol, the researchers read from the DSM standard definitions of alcohol abuse, including readily observable behaviors, and asked participants if they had witnessed these behaviors from their mother or father. The researchers said the study is the first nationally representative sample to examine whether there is a likelihood that suicide attempts are influenced by the fact that a parent is divorced or a parent abuses alcohol. The researchers examined data from the 2001-2002 Department of Health and Human Services survey interviews of 43,093 adults age 18 and older. A total of 13,753 participants suffered from depression in their lives, according to the report. Of those, 1,073 said they had attempted suicide. Of the group that reported a suicide attempt, 25 percent said their parents were divorced and 46 percent said one or both parents abused alcohol. From the full sample, 2.4 percent reported attempting suicide, 16 percent reported their parents were divorced, and 21 percent said at least one parent was an alcohol abuser. As to why the overlap of two factors, parental divorce and alcohol use, would not lead to a higher risk of a child attempting suicide, the authors hypothesize that divorce may reduce hostility, and therefore did not consequently lead to kids becoming emotionally dysfunctional adults. Monin said, “Or, when their parents split up, it may be that children who are confronted with an alcoholic parent are not surprised because they’ve already experienced so much conflict, so it’s unlikely to lead to a great deal of disruption and dissatisfaction in well-run families.” The researchers assessed the history of the depressed participants by asking if they felt sad for a period of time lasting at least two weeks; if they weren’t caring about what they thought was important or if they no longer liked what they liked; other questions were based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for depression. To determine whether the participants’ parents abused alcohol, the researchers read from the DSM standard definitions of alcohol abuse, including readily observable behaviors, and asked participants if they had witnessed these behaviors from their mother or father. The researchers said the study is the first nationally representative sample to examine whether there is a likelihood that suicide attempts are influenced by the fact that a parent is divorced or a parent abuses alcohol.