Moving houses in childhood increases suicide, death risk

Written by Marie Ellis
Published Tuesday 7 Jun 2016
MNT

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"The research was led by Dr. Roger T. Webb, Ph.D., from the Centre for Mental Health and Safety at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.
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He and his colleagues publish their findings in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, with serious implications for child, adolescent, and adult mental health services."
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www.medicalnewstoday.com...
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They conducted a long-term study of Danish children born from 1971-1997 who were followed into adulthood. Every residential move from birth to the age of 14 years was included in the dataset.
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Because there were several comprehensive national registries available to them, the researchers were also able to measure subsequent adverse events in adulthood, which includes attempted suicide, violent behavior, psychiatric illness, substance misuse, and both natural and unnatural deaths.
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Overall, the researchers found that the highest risks were among those people who frequently moved during the early adolescence period, which is 12-14 years of age. [bold in original]

Furthermore, each additional move was linked with an incremental risk increase. For example, the risk increased with multiple moves at any age, compared with a single move, and multiple relocations in a single year brought on a sharper spike for violent offending risk.
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--socioeconomic status was not a discriminating factor.

--CDC asserts that suicide is the 3rd leading cause of deaths for youths in the U.S.

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WOW. Serious issue, it seems to me.
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Certainly stability can logically be linked to a sense of security and safety. And in our era, those are frightfully in short supply.
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It seems like fear and horror are even advertised and propagandized in the media, movies, TV, etc. 24/7/365 . . . to horrendous results. It can't help kids feel more secure and safe. It just CANNOT.
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A kid's home HAS to be one of the MORE LIKELY and possibly only safe haven's available. And if that no longer seems safe or secure--what does the kid have left? All the more so if the parents are far from ideal parents--which also seems to be an epidemic issue.
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I wonder what ATS parents and kids experiences have been in such regards?
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I've moved house 5-6 times from the age of 9 up till 3 years ago and I'm 29 years old.

My parents split up at the age of 9 and lived with my mum till 12, moved in with my dad (moved a couple times) till 14-15 then back with my mum.

The upside is my parents and brother/big sister are all brilliant people so never felt suicidal thoughts or any other things along those lines.

Bought my own house now so thinking back I've moved at least 6-7 times.

That's my story and it can be stressful at times (i chose to move), so can see how others my have many problems even suicidal tendencies, wether it's bad parenting or lack of security when young, could be many of them.

I moved a lot growing up. It made my brother and sister and I very close. For a lot of our youth, we were all we had, until we made friends and even then we stuck together a lot. It actually kept us out of a lot of trouble, because when we hit our party phase (fairly close in ages) we partied together. One of us was always sober, and we always went home together. My first job was waiting tables, where my sister and I got hired together. Later, at another waitressing job, my sister and I started together, and our brother joined us soon after.

But moving in adolescent years was very hard. However, I think it made us stronger and able to adapt better than kids who stay put their whole young life.

According to the article, 37% of the study's "participants" had moved at least once during childhood; but it doesn't state the percentage who went on to commit suicide, or engage in violent behaviour, etc. The link to the study seems to be broken, so take it with a grain of salt unless you can read the actual study.

Gods... it's a wonder I haven't taken the Hemingway out yet... I moved a lot as a kid. From state to state even. I wonder about kids that grew up in a nomadic sort of society?

a reply to: DarkvsLight29

& @chelsdh

CONGRATS on y'all's resilience!

Sounds like you did well with what challenges may have been presented by the moves.

Impressive.

Thanks.

So what's next in these Wonder Studies ?, eating a lot of beans will make you fa_t more ?
how about reading a lot of these will make you believe in the Chupacabra!

a reply to: BO XIAN

I grew up in military family moved about every 4 years or less, moved school got new friends.

got picked on in the school bullied etc

yes being a military child was hard even today I cant say I have childhood friends or even a place that is really home.

how many of you guys moved ever 4 years or went to school in over 6 different schools or were homeschooled for awhile?

I grew up in the same house all my youth. We also had a farm we went to in the summer. I had stability, I really appreciated that. Some kids were moving a lot. But hardly any kids committed suicide back then, not like now. It is the change in social structure in this new world that is causing the increase in suicides. Stability comes from more than a home, it is supposed to come from society overall. We messed things up and it is time to reevaluate the direction we are going in.

Blaming it on moving isn't right. Why were the parents moving so much is what should be considered. There is a lot more to it than growing up in one place. Were the parents always unsatisfied with where they lived? Were they evicted? A behavior abnormality in the parents might be the problem and that is what should be investigated. That would probably give better results to the evidence. I can see a kid being torn away from friends all the time, but most times kids go to the same school when they move to a different apartment. I believe it could be a contributing factor but not the main reason.

Ah, well before 16 I had lived I five countries and moved (er) eight times. Now I have had kids, I have put them through a house move three times in 15 years.

However, I can see that constant change does have negative (and positive) side effects.

a reply to: BO XIAN
I would wager that any major life changing event or upheaval in the life of a child during the adolescent years would cause the same increase. They are at the midway point of change in their lives, and dealing with new hormones and emotions all with still under developed brains. Anything deemed a negative to their way of life could be detrimental.

a reply to: diagnosedfamilyhaszika

My dad retired from the Navy when my (older) sister was born. But he kept up the moving pace. We moved so frequently that my sister never attended the same school for more than 2 years. We stayed in the Southeast, but I went to schools in 3 different states (GA, FL, TN). Never did homeschooling.

a reply to: BO XIAN

Seems a seriously cultural phenomenon.

We were roaming for 100's of thousands of years before inventing agriculture.

I think it has to do more with friendship bonds being Brocken and depression in the modern world. Mixed with pharma drugs and parents who are distant and don't understand their kids. Not always of coarse but mostly.

I have moved three times with my son. He is really good at making friends. He does get sad about missing friends.

I think if you analyze modern culture and the neurology of an adolescent mind you have your explanation. Teens commit suicide note oftwn because their prefrontal cortex doesn't control impulses yet.

a reply to: BO XIAN

Hmmm...knowing very many military brats, being married to one, knowing many in the military who have kids, and having a 12-year-old who moved four times so far in his life, I only know of one suicide (my wife's brother), and it had nothing to do with moving and everything to do with repressing his homosexuality.

I just don't know if this really jives with reality or would have similar findings reproduced in a similar study. I'm not calling BS, but I know that I have been in some situations (myself included, having moved 5 times before I was 14) that have exposed me to exactly what this study claims is the cause, and I don't think I'm buying it.

I lived with a paranoid schizophrenic father as a child, and we must have moved at least once a year if not more. Thinking back... I can count 23 different schools that I went to across a few Australian states.

I'm still here
Though I admit; I do suffer anxiety, depression, and have been suicidal on and off in the past, and am not entirely comfortable with people or social situations, preferring to remain alone.

I have never been violent, or a criminal, or an alcohol/drug abuser. I guess I got the "meh" end of the stick rather than the "RAAARGH!" end.

a reply to: Atsbhct

I don't know why you're saying the link is broken.

This one:
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www.ajpmonline.org...
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worked for me, just now.
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Though it is listed as "in press," the "Full Text" link also worked for me:
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www.ajpmonline.org...
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Large graph images are here that answer your question:
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www.ajpmonline.org...
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However, I do understand that some folks have been trained to throw rocks first and ask questions later.
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a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

The article is not saying that the moving factor is the only contributing factor. It is merely demonstrated to be ONE contributing factor to an elevated RISK of suicide in the early teen cohort.

a reply to: manuelram16

So what's next in these Wonder Studies ?, eating a lot of beans will make you fa_t more ? . . .

So, what's next in these Wonder Carping Comments . . . a demonstration that they make one's manhood grow longer by 20%?

a reply to: diagnosedfamilyhaszika

How would you put a number on the added stress that inserted in your life?

Say what % more were you stressed, in your guesstimate, compared to those you knew--friends, cousins--who did not move near so much or at all?

originally posted by: rickymouse

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Blaming it on moving isn't right. Why were the parents moving so much is what should be considered. There is a lot more to it than growing up in one place. Were the parents always unsatisfied with where they lived? Were they evicted? A behavior abnormality in the parents might be the problem and that is what should be investigated. That would probably give better results to the evidence. I can see a kid being torn away from friends all the time, but most times kids go to the same school when they move to a different apartment. I believe it could be a contributing factor but not the main reason.

I don't think of it wrong to note that moving IS an added factor contributing toward an increased incidence in the young teen cohort. That is evidently an accurate fact.

CERTAINLY it does NOT occur in a vacuum devoid of other critical factors. Not at all.

And I think you mentioned some of those critical factors quite well.

I think you might have emphasized, as well, that WHEN the other factors are on the cliff edge . . . a stressful, isolating, deplored move can push a young teen over the edge.