Suicidal tendencies and risk factors among parents of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders:a predictive model

WANG Yun; CHEN Chang-hao; XIA Lei; WANG Fang; LIU Huan-zhong

doi:10.13820/j.cnki.gdyx.20241446

Abstract：Objective To explore the suicidal tendencies and risk factors among parents of children and adoles-cents with psychiatric disorders and to develop a predictive model for suicidal tendencies.Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August 2022 to July 2023,involving 299 parents of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders from two hospitals in Anhui Province.Sociodemographic data were collected,and suicidal tendencies,depressive symptoms,and alexithymia were assessed using standardized suicide-related questions,the Patient Health Questionnaire-9(PHQ-9),and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20(TAS-20),respectively.Results The overall prevalence of sui-cidal tendencies was 15.4％,with the rates of suicidal ideation,planning,and attempts being 11.0％,3.3％,and 8.0％,respectively.Logistic regression analysis revealed that a history of physical illness,depressive symptoms,alexithy-mia,and difficulty identifying feelings were associated with a higher risk of suicidal tendencies(all P＜0.05).Based on the regression analysis results,a predictive model for the risk of suicidal tendencies among parents was developed.The area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve(AUC)was 0.80(95％CI:0.72-0.87,P＜0.05).Conclusion The high prevalence of suicidal tendencies among parents of children and adolescents with psychiatric disor-ders underscores the need for clinicians to pay attention to the mental health of both the patients and their parents.It is crucial to enhance care for both the children and their parents and to provide individualized comprehensive interventions when necessary.