The protective effect of pregnancy on risk for suicide attempt in a Swedish national cohort
(2026) In Scientific Reports 16(1).- Abstract
We used national Swedish registry data to investigate the nature of the association between pregnancy and decreased risk for suicide attempt (SA). Analyses included pregnant individuals aged 18–35, biological fathers, and matched controls born 1975–1995. Data were available for between 366,125 and 2,129,244 females (depending on the model) and 359,622 males. We evaluated risk for SA as a function of pregnancy status using three methods designed to strengthen causal inference: a matched cohort design, co-relative analyses, and within-individual analyses. In within-individual analyses, we also examined potential moderators of the pregnancy-SA association, and we conducted separate analyses in the unborn children’s biological fathers.... (More)
We used national Swedish registry data to investigate the nature of the association between pregnancy and decreased risk for suicide attempt (SA). Analyses included pregnant individuals aged 18–35, biological fathers, and matched controls born 1975–1995. Data were available for between 366,125 and 2,129,244 females (depending on the model) and 359,622 males. We evaluated risk for SA as a function of pregnancy status using three methods designed to strengthen causal inference: a matched cohort design, co-relative analyses, and within-individual analyses. In within-individual analyses, we also examined potential moderators of the pregnancy-SA association, and we conducted separate analyses in the unborn children’s biological fathers. Across all analyses, pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of SA (ORs = 0.15–0.30). Moderation analyses indicated that the potentially protective effect of pregnancy was stronger in unmarried individuals, those with prior registration for externalizing or internalizing disorders, and younger individuals. Decreased SA risk was also observed during the postpartum period (ORs = 0.16–0.31) and in biological fathers (ORs = 0.67–0.82). These findings suggest that risk for non-fatal SA is substantially lower during pregnancy in expectant mothers and fathers, and the association between pregnancy and reduced SA risk may be causal.
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- author
- Stephenson, Mallory ; Lannoy, Séverine ; Ohlsson, Henrik LU ; Sundquist, Jan LU ; Crump, Casey LU ; Sundquist, Kristina LU and Edwards, Alexis C.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Father, Mother, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt
- in
- Scientific Reports
- volume
- 16
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 18715
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:42020614
- scopus:105041957894
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-026-49192-w
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026.
- id
- ee01a576-2ec2-4aed-b227-9e64304b1a16
- date added to LUP
- 2026-07-23 11:28:50
- date last changed
- 2026-10-02 03:55:33
@article{ee01a576-2ec2-4aed-b227-9e64304b1a16,
abstract = {{<p>We used national Swedish registry data to investigate the nature of the association between pregnancy and decreased risk for suicide attempt (SA). Analyses included pregnant individuals aged 18–35, biological fathers, and matched controls born 1975–1995. Data were available for between 366,125 and 2,129,244 females (depending on the model) and 359,622 males. We evaluated risk for SA as a function of pregnancy status using three methods designed to strengthen causal inference: a matched cohort design, co-relative analyses, and within-individual analyses. In within-individual analyses, we also examined potential moderators of the pregnancy-SA association, and we conducted separate analyses in the unborn children’s biological fathers. Across all analyses, pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of SA (ORs = 0.15–0.30). Moderation analyses indicated that the potentially protective effect of pregnancy was stronger in unmarried individuals, those with prior registration for externalizing or internalizing disorders, and younger individuals. Decreased SA risk was also observed during the postpartum period (ORs = 0.16–0.31) and in biological fathers (ORs = 0.67–0.82). These findings suggest that risk for non-fatal SA is substantially lower during pregnancy in expectant mothers and fathers, and the association between pregnancy and reduced SA risk may be causal.</p>}},
author = {{Stephenson, Mallory and Lannoy, Séverine and Ohlsson, Henrik and Sundquist, Jan and Crump, Casey and Sundquist, Kristina and Edwards, Alexis C.}},
issn = {{2045-2322}},
keywords = {{Father; Mother; Pregnancy; Suicide attempt}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Scientific Reports}},
title = {{The protective effect of pregnancy on risk for suicide attempt in a Swedish national cohort}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-49192-w}},
doi = {{10.1038/s41598-026-49192-w}},
volume = {{16}},
year = {{2026}},
}