What is the problem/issue being addressed? The objective of this project is to understand how vulnerability to suicide emerge during the lifespan. Suicide is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon. While recognising the importance of immediate precipitating factors (unemployment, relationship problems), studies worldwide are showing that early-life events, occurring before or around birth, can influence later susceptibility to suicide. Therefore, the LIFESPAN project adopts a life-course perspective to examine the early-life influences on suicide, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in the general population.
Why is this important for society? Suicide is a major public health concern and leading cause of death worldwide. Suicidal ideation and attempts, especially among youths, are of particular concern because of their associations with suicide, poor health, educational and employment outcomes. The World Health Organisation European Mental Health Action Plan has ranked suicide prevention among the highest priorities on the global public health agenda. By improving our understanding of the early-life influences on suicide, this project will contribute to clarifying the developmental origins of suicide by identifying preventable early-life factors associated with long-term risk of suicide and clarify pathways to suicide for individuals exposed to such factors. This knowledge may ultimately open new avenues for suicide prevention starting early in life, contributing to the H2020 aim of “promoting healthy ageing and personalised health care [which] will enable to better understand the determinants of health, keep the population healthier, preserve quality of life”.
What are the overall objectives? The LIFESPAN project comprises 3 complementary objectives: (1) to summarise available studies about the longitudinal relations between early-life influences and suicide mortality by applying meta-analysis; (2) to investigate the associations between early-life influences and suicidal ideation and attempts in adolescence and young adulthood with data from large longitudinal population-based cohorts; (3) to identify specific mediating pathways (targetable with new preventive interventions) linking early-life factors and suicide risk
