Objectives To describe homicide-followed-by-suicide incidents involving child victims Methods Using 2003–2009 National Violent Death Reporting System data, we characterized 129 incidents based on victim and perpetrator demographic information, their relationships, the weapons/mechanisms involved, and the perpetrators’ health and stress-related circumstances. Results These incidents accounted for 188 child deaths; 69% were under 11 years old, and 58% were killed with a firearm. Approximately 76% of perpetrators were males, and 75% were parents/caregivers. Eighty-one percent of incidents with paternal perpetrators and 59% with maternal perpetrators were preceded by parental discord. Fifty-two percent of incidents with maternal perpetrators were associated with maternal psychiatric problems. Conclusions Strategies that resolve parental conflicts rationally and facilitate detection and treatment of parental mental conditions might help prevention efforts.
This study used linked, official data for population-based surveillance of homicides, suicides, and homicide–suicides in four U.S. states and four counties. Among 1,503 homicide incidents, less than 5% ( n = 74) were followed by the perpetrator's suicide and 1% ( n = 18) by a nonfatal suicide attempt. However, among men who killed their female intimate partner with a firearm, 59% also took their own life. Homicide–suicide perpetrators did not test positive for an antidepressant more often than other male suicide decedents (15% vs. 19%). Most (54%) perpetrators of nonfirearm homicides who attempted suicide lived; nearly all (93%) firearm perpetrators who attempted suicide died. Among men who killed their female intimate partner with a firearm, homicide–suicide was the norm. Better enforcement of existing laws designed to protect abuse victims by removing firearms from domestic abusers may also prevent abusers' suicides.
BackgroundApproximately 32,000 people take their own lives every year in the United States. In Kentucky, suicide mortality rates have been steadily increasing since 1999. Few studies in the United States have assessed spatial clustering of suicides. The purpose of this study was to identify high-risk clusters of suicide at the county level in Kentucky and assess the characteristics of those suicide cases within the clusters.MethodsA spatial epidemiological study was undertaken using suicide data for the period January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2008, obtained from the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics. Descriptive analyses using Pearson's chi-square test and t-test were performed to determine whether differences existed in age, marital status, year, season, and suicide method between males and females, and between cases inside and outside high-risk spatial clusters. Annual age-adjusted cumulative incidence rates were also calculated. Suicide incidence rates were spatially smoothed using the Spatial Empirical Bayesian technique. Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic was applied on all suicide cases at the county level to identify counties with the highest risks of suicide. Temporal cluster analysis was also performed.ResultsThere were a total of 5,551 suicide cases in Kentucky from 1999 to 2008, of which 5,237 (94%) were included in our analyses. The majority of suicide cases were males (82%). The average age of suicide victims was 45.4 years. Two statistically significant (p < 0.05) high-risk spatial clusters, involving 15 counties, were detected. The county level cumulative incidence rate in the most likely high-risk cluster ranged from 12.4 to 21.6 suicides per 100,000 persons. The counties inside both high-risk clusters had relative risks ranging from 1.24 to 1.38.ConclusionsStatistically significant high-risk spatial clusters of suicide were detected at the county level. This study may be useful for guiding future research and intervention efforts. Future studies will need to focus on these high-risk clusters to investigate reasons for these occurrences.
As a result of this study, we have two recommendations: (1) partnering with the media and community-based programs and services to systematically disseminate information on issues such as male IPPs and suicide, and (2) continuing and expanding the use of violent death surveillance to improve risk factor identification. With improved data gathering, targeted interventions can better address the various dynamics influencing the decision to take one's own life.
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