Parental bonding and attitudes toward suicide among medical college students in Japan

Hashimoto, Kojiro; Sugawara, Norio; Tanaka, Osamu; Nakamura, Kazuhiko; Yasui-Furukori, Norio

We found an association between parental bonding and attitudes toward suicide among medical students. Previous studies of parental bonding among medical staff members supported our results. A 10 year follow-up study of Norwegian physicians (n=631) revealed that a low level of maternal care predicted severe depressive symptoms and partially mediated low self-esteem. 9 Lung et al assessed the psychological effects on 127 health care workers who had cared for suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patients. Early maternal attachment and neuroticism were found to heavily affect mental health during life-threatening stress. 10 Distinct patterns of parental bonding may contribute to the development of different dysfunctional schemas which may influence attitudes toward suicide. 19 There are several limitations in this study. First, we used PBI to assess the child rearing behavior experienced by our participants. Although PBI has shown basic reliability for long periods, 20 we could not completely rule out possible influences of the current mood state or recall bias in individuals because PBI is an instrument for measuring recalled parental behaviors. Second, certain parameters were not assessed in this study personality traits, a history of psychiatric disorders, suicidal behavior, and current mood state could affect the attitude towards suicidal behavior. Third, because the participants in our study are medical students, we cannot generalize these results to general practitioners.