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FAMPATH Study

Familial Early-Onset Suicide Attempt (FAMPATH) Study

NIH Reporter

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Dates: 7/15/1997-6/30/2002

This project, based at two psychiatric institutes in Pittsburgh and New York, studied how suicidal behavior may be passed down in families. Researchers compared depressed adults who have attempted suicide with those who have not, along with their children over age 10 and the other biological parent. They looked at mental health history, suicide attempts, aggression, impulsivity, and family environment, and they will also study certain genes related to brain chemistry. Children were checked again one and two years later to see how their behavior and mental health changed over time. The study predicted that “impulsive aggression,” or reacting with anger without thinking, plays a key role in the family pattern of suicidal behavior. The main goal was to learn whether children of suicide attempters are more likely to show risky behaviors and whether this is linked to both family environment and genetics.

Selected Primary Outcome Papers:

  1. PubMed - Familial pathways to early-onset suicide attempt: risk for suicidal behavior in offspring of mood-disordered suicide attempters
  2. PubMed - The neurobiology and genetics of suicide and attempted suicide: a focus on the serotonergic system
  3. PubMed - Peripubertal suicide attempts in offspring of suicide attempters with siblings concordant for suicidal behavior
  4. PubMed - Familial transmission of mood disorders: convergence and divergence with transmission of suicidal behavior
  5. PubMed - Family genetic studies, suicide, and suicidal behavior
  6. PubMed - Posttraumatic stress disorder comorbid with major depression: factors mediating the association with suicidal behavior
  7. PubMed - The risks and benefits of antidepressant treatment for youth depression
  8. PubMed - Family history of suicidal behavior and mood disorders in probands with mood disorders
  9. PubMed - Association of a triallelic serotonin transporter gene promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism with stressful life events and severity of depression

Dates: 7/1/2003-6/30/2007

This long-term study looked at how suicidal behavior can be passed down in families and why some children of parents with depression are at higher risk. Researchers followed hundreds of families in New York and Pittsburgh, comparing children of parents who had attempted suicide with children of parents who had not. They studied mental health, aggression, stress responses, family environment, and early experiences like trauma to see which factors increase risk. The team also looked at how traits such as impulsivity, early depression, and memory or decision-making problems may run in families and help predict suicidal behavior. By following these children over many years, the researchers hoped to understand how problems develop and which warning signs matter most. The goal was to use this knowledge to guide better prevention and treatment for young people at risk of suicide.

Selected Primary Outcomes Papers:

  1. PubMed Central - Familial Transmission of Suicidal Behavior: Factors Mediating the Relationship Between Childhood Abuse and Offspring Suicide Attempts
  2. PubMed Central - Familial Transmission of Suicidal Behavior
  3. PubMed Central - Familial Pathways to Early-Onset Suicidal Behavior: Familial and Individual Antecedents of Suicidal Behavior
  4. PubMed Central - Comorbid anxiety in bipolar disorder: does it have an independent effect on suicidality?
  5. PubMed Central - Familial Transmission of Suicidal Behavior: Factors Mediating the Relationship Between Childhood Abuse and Offspring Suicide Attempts
  6. PubMed Central - In search of endophenotypes for suicidal behavior
  7. PubMed Central - Substance Use Disorders and Suicide Attempts in Bipolar Subtypes
  8. PubMed Central - A Longitudinal Study of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Offspring at High Risk for Mood Disorder
  9. PubMed Central - Familial and Individual Correlates of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in the Offspring of Mood-Disordered Parents

Dates: 6/4/2009-3/31/2014

This study looked at how suicidal behavior might be passed from parents to their children and what early warning signs could help predict this risk. It followed more than 500 children of parents with major depression, some of whom had attempted suicide and some who had not, for almost four years. Researchers tracked new suicide attempts each year and studied traits like impulsive aggression, early depression, thinking skills, and stress responses, along with life experiences such as abuse or strong family support. They expected that about 67 new suicide attempts would occur, giving them enough data to test whether these traits were inherited and helped explain how suicidal behavior runs in families. The findings were meant to guide future genetic research and help identify which children were most at risk. Because few proven treatments existed for suicidal youth, the results of this study were intended to help shape better prevention and care for high-risk families.

Selected Primary Outcome Papers:

  1. PubMed Central - Familial Pathways to Early-Onset Suicide Attempt: A 5.6-Year Prospective Study
  2. PubMed Central - Depressed Parents' Attachment: Effects on Offspring Suicidal Behavior in a Longitudinal, Family Study
  3. PubMed Central - Familial transmission of parental mood disorders: unipolar and bipolar disorders in offspring
  4. PubMed Central - Neuropsychological Deficits in Past Suicide Attempters with Varying Levels of Depression Severity

Familial Early-Onset Suicide Attempt Biomarkers (FAMPATH BIO) Study

Dates: 8/20/2015-4/30/2018

Co-Investigator: 2018-2020

This study looked for biological and psychological signs that made some people with major depression more likely—or less likely—to attempt suicide. It compared healthy adults with adult children of parents who had depression, sorting these children into groups based on whether they developed depression, suicidal behavior, both, or neither. By comparing these groups, the researchers identified traits linked to risk and traits linked to resilience. The study built on earlier work that followed more than 700 children of parents with mood disorders to understand how suicidal behavior was passed from parent to child. Researchers examined thinking skills, mood control, stress responses, and brain imaging related to serotonin to find patterns that might explain vulnerability or protection. Two research sites worked together to test participants with the same methods, including interviews, cognitive tests, stress tasks, and brain scans.

Selected Primary Outcome Papers:

  1. PubMed Central - Brain 5-HT1A Receptor PET Binding, Cortisol Responses to Stress and the Familial Transmission of Suicidal Behavior
  2. PubMed Central - Ventral prefront serotonin 1A receptor binding: a neural marker of vulnerability for mood disorder and suicidal behavior?
  3. PubMed Central - Smaller Cornu Ammonis (CA3) as a potential risk factor for suicidal behavior in mood disorders
  4. PubMed Central - Mood Disorders and Aggressive Traits Mediate Effects of Reported Childhood Adversity on Suicide Attempt Risk
  5. PubMed Central - Avoidant Attachment Transmission to Offspring in Families with a Depressed Parent