[Role of the family group in attempted suicide among the young]

Data from 1848 cases of attempted suicide on the files of the Milan University Emergency Psychiatry Ward and 990 suicides recorded by the Milan Legal Medicine Department in the period 1964-1969 were computerised on specially prepared cards, designed to permit objective study of acts of self-destruction in the light of the relations between the subject, his family, and the community. The results point to the importance of extra-subjective factors (loss of cohesion in the family, the way in which parents carry out their respective roles, various environmental factors) as motive forces in attempted suicide.