Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T01:55:44.669Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Suicidal thoughts and attempts in First Nations communities: links to parental Indian residential school attendance across development

Part of: DOHaD on International Women's Day 2020 A Canadian perspective on DOHaD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2018

A. Bombay ,
R. J. McQuaid ,
F. Schwartz ,
A. Thomas ,
H. Anisman  and
K. Matheson
A. Bombay
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
R. J. McQuaid
Affiliation:
The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
F. Schwartz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
A. Thomas
Affiliation:
Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
H. Anisman
Affiliation:
The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
K. Matheson
Affiliation:
The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Indian residential school (IRS) system in Canada ran for over a century until the last school closed in 1996. Conditions in the IRSs resulted in generations of Indigenous children being exposed to chronic childhood adversity. The current investigation used data from the 2008–2010 First Nations Regional Health Survey to explore whether parental IRS attendance was associated with suicidal thoughts and attempts in childhood, adolescence and in adulthood among a representative sample of First Nations peoples living on-reserve across Canada. Analyses of the adult sample in Study 1 (unweighted n=7716; weighted n=186,830) revealed that having a parent who attended IRS was linked with increased risk for suicidal thoughts and attempts in adolescence and adulthood. Although females were negatively affected by having a parent who attended IRS, the link with suicidal ideation in adulthood was greater for males. Analyses of the youth sample in Study 2 (unweighted n=2883; weighted n=30,190) confirmed that parental IRS attendance was associated with an increased risk for suicidal ideation and attempts. In contrast to the adult sample, parental IRS attendance had a significantly greater relation with suicidal ideation among female youth. A significant interaction also emerged between parental IRS attendance and age in the youth sample, with the influence of parental attendance being particularly strong among youth ages 12–14, compared with those 15–17 years. These results underscore the need for culturally relevant early interventions for the large proportions of Indigenous children and youth intergenerationally affected by IRSs and other collective traumas.

Keywords

collective traumadevelopmental stageIndigenousintergenerationalmental health/illness
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 10 , Special Issue 1: Themed Issue: Canada / Indigenous Populations , February 2019 , pp. 123 - 131
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Campbell, A, Balaratnasingam, S, McHugh, C, Janca, A, Chapman, M. Alarming increase of suicide in a remote Indigenous Australian population: an audit of data from 2005 to 2014. World Psychiatry. 2016; 15, 296–297.Google Scholar
2. Orellana, JD, Balieiro, AA, Fonseca, FR, Basta, PC, Souza, ML. Spatial-temporal trends and risk of suicide in Central Brazil: an ecological study contrasting indigenous and non-indigenous populations. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2016; 38, 222–230.Google Scholar
3. Sumarokov, YA, Brenn, T, Kudryavtsev, AV, Nilssen, O. Suicides in the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Northwestern Russia, and associated socio-demographic characteristics. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2014; 73, 24308.Google Scholar
4. World Health Organization. Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative. 2014. World Health Organization: Luxembourg. Retrieved January 2018 from http://www.who.int/mental_health/suicide-prevention/world_report_2014/en/.Google Scholar
5. Kirmayer, LJ. Changing patterns in suicide among young people. Can Med Assoc J. 2012; 184, 1015–1016.Google Scholar
6. Kirmayer, LJ, Brass, GM, Holton, T, et al. Suicide Among Aboriginal People in Canada. 2007. Aboriginal Healing Foundation: Ottawa, ON.Google Scholar
7. Mota, N, Elias, B, Tefft, B, et al. Correlates of suicidality: investigation of a representative sample of Manitoba First Nations adolescents. Am J Public Health. 2012; 102, 1353–1361.Google Scholar
8. Bombay, A, Matheson, K, Anisman, H. The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: implications for the concept of historical trauma. Transcult Psychiatry. 2014; 51, 320–338.Google Scholar
9. Bombay, A, Matheson, K, Anisman, H. Origins of Lateral Violence in Aboriginal Communities: A Preliminary Study of Student-to-Student Abuse in Indian Residential Schools. 2014. Aboriginal Healing Foundation: Ottawa, ON.Google Scholar
10. Chandler, MJ, Lalonde, CE, Sokol, BW, Hallett, D, Marcia, JE. Personal persistence, identity development, and suicide: a study of Native and non-Native North American adolescents. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2003; 68, vii–viii, 1–130; discussion 131–138.Google Scholar
11. Elias, B, Mignone, J, Hall, M, et al. Trauma and suicide behaviour histories among a Canadian Indigenous population: an empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada’s residential school system. Soc Sci Med. 2012; 74, 1560–1569.Google Scholar
12. Hackett, C, Feeny, D, Tompa, E. Canada’s residential school system: measuring the intergenerational impact of familial attendance on health and mental health outcomes. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2016; 70, 1096–1105.Google Scholar
13. Walls, ML, Whitbeck, LB. The intergenerational effects of relocation policies on Indigenous families. J Family Issues. 2012; 33, 1272–1293.Google Scholar
14. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Report (5 vols.), 1996. RCAP: Ottawa, ON.Google Scholar
15. Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada’s Residential Schools: The Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (vol. 1), 2015. McGill-Queen’s Press: Montreal & Kingston.Google Scholar
16. Sotero, M. A conceptual model of historical trauma: implications for public health practice and research. J Health Dispar Res Pract. 2006; 1, 93–108.Google Scholar
17. Wilk, P, Maltby, A, Cooke, M. Residential schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada-a scoping review. Public Health Rev. 2017; 38, 1–23.Google Scholar
18. Corrado, RR, Cohen, IM. Mental health profiles for a sample of British Columbia’s Survivors of the Canadian Residential School system. 2003. Aboriginal Healing Foundation: Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
19. Bombay, A, Matheson, K, Anisman, H. The impact of stressors on second generation Indian residential school survivors. Transcul Psychiatry. 2011; 48, 367–391.Google Scholar
20. McQuaid, RJ, Bombay, A, McInnis, OA, et al. Suicide ideation and attempts among First Nations Peoples living on-reserve in Canada: the intergenerational and cumulative effects of Indian Residential Schools. Can J Psychiatry. 2017; 62, 422–430.Google Scholar
21. Menzies, P. Homeless Aboriginal men: effects of intergenerational trauma. Can Rev Soc Policy. 2009; 58, 1–25.Google Scholar
22. Bombay, A, Matheson, K, Anisman, H. Appraisals of discriminatory events among adult offspring of Indian Residential School survivors. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2013; 20, 75–86.Google Scholar
23. Docherty, AR, Edwards, AC, Yang, F, et al. Age of onset and family history as indicators of polygenic risk for major depression. Depress Anxiety. 2017; 34, 446–452.Google Scholar
24. Melhem, NM, Brent, DA, Ziegler, M, et al. Familial pathways to early-onset suicidal behavior: familial and individual antecedents of suicidal behavior. Am J Psychiatry. 2007; 164, 1364–1370.Google Scholar
25. Wilson, S, Vaidyanathan, U, Miller, MB, McGue, M, Iacono, WG. Premorbid risk factors for major depressive disorder: are they associated with early onset and recurrent course? Dev Psychopathol. 2014; 26, 1477–1493.Google Scholar
26. First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC). First Nations Regional Health Survey (RHS) 2008/10: National Report on Adults, Youth and Children Living in First Nations Communities, 2012. FNIGC: Ottawa, ON.Google Scholar
27. Klonksky, ED, May, AM, Saffer, BY. Suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2016; 12, 307–330.Google Scholar
28. Goldston, DB, Daniel, SS, Erkanli, A, et al. Psychiatric diagnoses as contemporaneous risk factors for suicide attempts among adolescents and young adults: developmental changes. J Consulting Clin Psychol. 2009; 77, 281.Google Scholar
29. Rohde, P, Lewinsohn, PM, Klein, DN, Seeley, JR, Gau, JM. Key characteristics of major depressive disorder occurring in childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, adulthood. Clin Psychol Sci. 2013; 1, 41–53.Google Scholar
30. Bruffaerts, R, Demyttenaere, K, Borges, G, et al. Childhood adversities as risk factors for onset and persistence of suicidal behavior. Br J Psychiatry. 2010; 197, 20–27.Google Scholar
31. Kendler, KS, Gatz, M, Gardner, CO, Pedersen, NL. A Swedish national twin study of lifetime major depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2006; 163, 109–114.Google Scholar
32. Neuman, J, Geller, B, Rice, JP, Todd, RD. Increased prevalence and earlier onset of mood disorders among relatives of prepubertal versus adult probands. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1997; 36, 466–473.Google Scholar
33. Côté, SM, Boivin, M, Liu, X, et al. Depression and anxiety symptoms: onset, developmental course and risk factors during early childhood. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2009; 50, 1201–1208.Google Scholar
34. Dekker, MC, Ferdinand, RF, Van Lang, ND, et al. Developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms from early childhood to late adolescence: gender differences and adult outcome. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007; 48, 657–666.Google Scholar
35. Hammen, C, Hazel, NA, Brennan, PA, Najman, J. Intergenerational transmission and continuity of stress and depression: depressed women and their offspring in 20 years of follow-up. Psychol Med. 2012; 42, 931–942.Google Scholar
36. Roza, SJ, Hofstra, MB, van der Ende, J, Verhulst, FC. Stable prediction of mood and anxiety disorders based on behavioral and emotional problems in childhood: a 14-year follow-up during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Am J Psychiatry. 2003; 60, 2116–2121.Google Scholar
37. Bittner, A, Egger, HL, Erkanli, A, et al. What do childhood anxiety disorders predict? J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007; 48, 1174–1183.Google Scholar
38. Cowan, CSM, Callaghan, BL, Kan, JM, Richardson, R. The lasting impact of early-life adversity on individuals and their descendants: potential mechanisms and hope for intervention. Genes Brain Behav. 2016; 15, 155–168.Google Scholar
39. Benjet, C, Borges, G, Medina-Mora, M. Chronic childhood adversity and onset of psychopathology during three life stages: childhood, adolescence and adulthood. J Psychiatr Res. 2010; 44, 732–740.Google Scholar
40. Bruwer, B, Govender, R, Bishop, M, et al. Association between childhood adversities and long-term suicidality among South Africans from the results of the South African Stress and Health study: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2014; 4, e004644.Google Scholar
41. Santana, GL, Coelho, BM, Borges, G, et al. The influence of parental psychopathology on offspring suicidal behavior across the lifespan. PLoS ONE. 2015; 10, e0134970.Google Scholar
42. Matheson, K, Bombay, A, Dixon, K, Anisman, H. Intergenerational communication regarding Indian Residential Schools: implications for cultural identity, perceived discrimination, and depressive symptoms. Transcult Psychiatry. 2018; (in press).Google Scholar
43. Evans, EA, Grella, CE, Upchurch, DM. Gender differences in the effects of childhood adversity on alcohol, drug, and polysubstance-related disorders. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2017; 52, 901–912.Google Scholar
44. Pirkola, S, Isometsä, E, Aro, H, et al. Childhood adversities as risk factors for adult mental disorders: results from the Health 2000 Study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2005; 40, 769–777.Google Scholar
45. Angst, J, Hengartner, MP, Rogers, J, et al. Suicidality in the prospective Zurich study: prevalence, risk factors and gender. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2014; 264, 557–565.Google Scholar
46. Oquendo, MA, Bongiovi-Garcia, ME, Galfalvy, H, et al. Sex differences in clinical predictors of suicidal acts after major depression: a prospective study. Am J Psychiatry. 2007; 164, 134–141.Google Scholar
47. Kral, MJ. Postcolonial suicide among Inuit in Arctic Canada. Cult Med Psychiatry. 2012; 36, 306–325.Google Scholar
48. Leineweber, M, Arensman, E. Culture change and mental health: the epidemiology of suicide in Greenland. Arch Suicide Res. 2003; 7, 41–50.Google Scholar
49. Leineweber, MP, Bjerregaard, C, Baerveldt, C, Voestermans, P. Suicide in a society transition. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2001; 60, 280–287.Google Scholar
50. Eggertson, L. Aboriginal youth suicide rises in Northern Ontario. CMAJ. 2015; 187, E335–E336.Google Scholar
51. Fraser, SL, Geoffroy, D, Chachamovich, E, Kirmayer, LJ. Changing rates of suicide ideation and attempts among Inuit youth: A gender‐based analysis of risk and protective factors. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2015; 45, 141–156.Google Scholar
52. Skinner, R, McFaull, S. Suicide among children and adolescents in Canada: trends and sex differences, 1980–2008. Can Med Assoc J. 2012; 184, 1029–1034.Google Scholar
53. LaFromboise, TD, Medoff, L, Lee, CC, Harris, A. Psychosocial and cultural correlates of suicidal ideation among American Indian early adolescents on a Northern Plains reservation. Res Human Dev. 2007; 4, 119–143.Google Scholar
54. Lahti, A, Räsänen, P, Riala, K, Keränen, S, Hakko, H. Youth suicide trends in Finland, 1969–2008. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2011; 52, 984–991.Google Scholar
55. Somasundaram, D. Collective trauma in northern Sri Lanka: a qualitative psychosocial-ecological study. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2007; 1, 5.Google Scholar
56. Somasundaram, D. Collective trauma in the Vanni: a qualitative inquiry into the mental health of the internally displaced due to the civil war in Sri Lanka. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2010; 4, 22.Google Scholar
57. Franklin, TB, Russig, H, Weiss, IC, et al. Epigenetic transmission of the impact of early stress across generations. Biological Psychiatry. 2010; 68, 408–415.Google Scholar
58. Ambeskovic, M, Roseboom, TJ, Metz, GAS. Transgenerational effects of early environmental insults on aging and disease incidence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2017; [Epub ahead of print].Google Scholar
59. Constantinof, A, Moisiadis, VG, Matthews, SG. Programming of stress pathways: a transgenerational perspective. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2016; 160, 175–180.Google Scholar
60. Bock, J, Poeschel, J, Schindler, J, et al. Transgenerational sex-specific impact of preconception stress on the development of dendritic spines and dendritic length in the medial prefrontal cortex. Brain Struct Funct. 2016; 221, 855–863.Google Scholar
61. Bowers, ME, Yehuda, R. Intergenerational transmission of stress in humans. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2016; 41, 232–244.Google Scholar
62. Vågerö, D, Rajaleid, K. Does childhood trauma influence offspring’s birth characteristics? Int J Epidemiol. 2017; 46, 219–229.Google Scholar
63. Matheson, K, Kelly, O, Cole, B, et al. Parental bonding and depressive affect: the mediating role of coping resources. Br J Soc Psychol. 2005; 44, 371–395.Google Scholar
64. Mason, WA, Chmelka, MB, Trudeau, L, Spoth, RL. Gender moderation of the intergenerational transmission and stability of depressive symptoms from early adolescence to early adulthood. J Youth Adolesc. 2017; 46, 248–260.Google Scholar
65. Andersen, SL, Teicher, MH. Stress, sensitive periods and maturational events in adolescent depression. Trends Neurosci. 2008; 31, 183–191.Google Scholar
66. Widom, CS, DuMont, K, Czaja, SJ. A prospective investigation of major depressive disorder and comorbidity in abused and neglected children grown up. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007; 64, 49–56.Google Scholar
67. Singh, M, Ding, Y, Zhang, L-Y, et al. Distinct breast cancer subtypes in women with early-onset disease across races. Am J Cancer Res. 2014; 4, 337–352.Google Scholar
68. Jaffee, SR, Moffitt, TE, Caspi, A, et al. Differences in early childhood risk factors for juvenile-onset and adult-onset depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2002; 59, 215–222.Google Scholar
69. Zisook, S, Rush, AJ, Lesser, I, et al. Preadult onset vs. adult onset of major depressive disorder: A replication study. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2007; 115, 196–205.Google Scholar
70. Moffitt, TE, Caspi, A, Taylor, A, et al. How common are common mental disorders? Evidence that lifetime prevalence rates are doubled by prospective versus retrospective ascertainment. Psychol Med. 2010; 40, 899–909.Google Scholar
71. Simon, GE, VonKorff, M. Recall of psychiatric history in cross-sectional surveys: implications for epidemiologic research. Epidemiol Rev. 1995; 17, 221–227.Google Scholar
72. Sittner, KJ. Trajectories of substance use: onset and adverse outcomes among North American Indigenous adolescents. J Res Adolesc. 2015; 26, 830–844.Google Scholar
73. Reupert, AE, Cuff, R, Drost, L, et al. Intervention programs for children whose parents have a mental illness: a review. Med J Aust. 2013; 199, S18–S22.Google Scholar
74. Siegenthaler, E, Munder, T, Egger, M. Effect of preventive interventions in mentally ill parents on the mental health of the offspring: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2012; 51, 8–17.Google Scholar
75. Ginsburg, GS. The child anxiety prevention study: intervention model and primary outcomes. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2009; 77, 580–587.Google Scholar
76. Assembly of First Nations & the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, 2015. Health Canada: Ottawa, ON. Retrieved January 2018 from http://www.thunderbirdpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/24-14-1273-FN-Mental-Wellness-Framework-EN05_low.pdf.Google Scholar
77. Spear, W. Full Circle: The Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the Unfinished Work of Hope, Healing, and Reconciliation. 2014. Aboriginal Healing Foundation: Ottawa, ON.Google Scholar
78. Heim, C, Binder, EB. Current research trends in early life stress and depression: review of human studies on sensitive periods, gene–environment interactions, and epigenetic. Exp Neurol. 2012; 233, 102–111.Google Scholar