[Parent, mother or father loss in childhood and suicidal behavior in adulthood]

Information respecting loss of one or both parents in childhood was elicited at certain fixed intervals among 170 suicides and 200 each of attempted suicide cases, and hospitalised neurological and ophthalomological patients. It was discovered that among the cases of suicide and attempted suicide, cases where one or both parents were lost in childhood were 2 1/2 to 4 times more frequent than in the control groups. Especially notable is the high frequency of cases where the father was the lost parent.