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Research / Funded grants

2021 Standard Research Grant

Factors that Modify the Relationship Between Adversity and Suicide Attempt in a Brazilian Birth Cohort

2 research findings from this AFSP-funded study.

Research finding · July 2025

Perinatal factors may influence vulnerability to suicidal behavior later in life

While many known risk factors for suicidal behavior emerge in adolescence or adulthood, there is growing interest in how conditions around the time of birth may shape later vulnerability. The perinatal period (which encompasses pregnancy, birth, and early infancy) can influence physical and mental health outcomes through mechanisms like maternal stress and early-life adversity. However, most research linking perinatal factors to suicide risk has been conducted in high-income countries, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of how these early-life factors operate in low-resource settings where such risks may be more prevalent.

With his AFSP-funded grant, Dr. Ian Colman used data from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort in Brazil, which followed 3,493 individuals from birth into early adulthood, and examined the relationship between various perinatal exposures and suicidal outcomes. Dr. Colman found that female sex, low maternal education, and maternal smoking during pregnancy were associated with higher odds of both lifetime suicide attempts and recent suicidal ideation at ages 18 and 22. In contrast, mothers receiving social support from friends or neighbors around the time of birth significantly reduced these risks in their children. The findings align with patterns observed in high-income countries but highlight the added importance of modifiable, early-life interventions in lower-resource settings. This research underscores the need to consider perinatal environments in suicide prevention strategies, especially in global contexts where social supports and maternal education remain inequitable.

Citation: Eccles, H., Kingsbury, M., Murray, J., Geoffroy, M. C., Menezes, A. M. B., Blair, D. L., Calegaro, G., Wehrmeister, F. C., Gonçalves, H., & Colman, I. (2024). Perinatal Factors and Their Association with Early-Adulthood Suicidal Behavior in a Brazilian Birth Cohort. Archives of suicide research : official journal of the International Academy for Suicide Research, 1–16. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2024.2405737

This finding comes from an AFSP-funded study — see the grant below ↓

Research finding · September 2024

Adverse childhood experiences may be connected to risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, which can have long-term effects on a person’s health and well-being. ACEs include abuse (e.g., physical, emotional, and sexual abuse), neglect, discrimination, and household challenges such as substance abuse, mental illness, parental separation or divorce, domestic violence, financial hardship, and incarceration of a family member. Past research has indicated a potential association between ACEs and future suicidal behavior. However, most of the studies contributing to this association were cross-sectional (i.e., collecting data only at one point in time, raising possibility of recall bias) and conducted in high-income countries, which limits the generalizability or representativeness of these findings.

To expand this research, Dr. Ian Colman used longitudinal data (e.g., data collected over time) from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort in Southern Brazil, which collected data from 3810 adolescents at ages 11, 15, 18, and 22 to see if there was a relationship between experienced ACEs and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Dr. Colman found that adolescents who experienced financial hardship, parental divorce, and maternal mental illness at 11 years old were more likely to report suicidal ideation at 22 years old. He also found that adolescents who experienced financial hardship, physical abuse, discrimination, maternal mental illness, or parental divorce were more likely to report a lifetime suicide attempt. While more research on the relationship between ACEs and suicide is needed, these findings demonstrate prevention of ACEs and mental support following encounters with certain ACEs during childhood is crucial.

Citation: Calegaro, G., Soares, P. S. M., Colman, I., Murray, J., Wehrmeister, F. C., Menezes, A. M. B., & Gonçalves, H. (2023). Adverse childhood experiende lucaces (ACEs) and suicidal behaviors in emerging adulthood: The 1993 Pelotas birth cohort. Child Abuse & Neglect, 146, 106517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106517

This finding comes from an AFSP-funded study — see the grant below ↓

The grant behind this work · 2021 Standard Research Grant

Factors that Modify the Relationship Between Adversity and Suicide Attempt in a Brazilian Birth Cohort

Ian Colman, PhD

Ian Colman, Ph.D.

University of Ottawa (Canada)

Amount awarded
$98,862 Focus area
Psychosocial

Inside the Research

Although low- and middle-income countries account for much of the global suicide burden, factors linked with suicidal ideation and behavior are understudied in these countries. The aim of this project is to identify factors that increase or reduce the association between adversity and suicidal ideation and behavior by studying a cohort of Brazilians followed since their birth in 1993. This research will help identify potential interventions based on modifiable factors associated with reduction of suicidal ideation and behavior appropriate for a lower-income setting.

Full scientific abstract

Suicide represents a major public health concern, and its burden is particularly felt among adolescents and young adults. Although low- and middle-income countries account for 75% of the global suicide burden, there is a lack of data to allow for high quality research examining risk and protective factors for suicidality in this context. One notable exception is a large cohort of Brazilians born in the city of Pelotas in 1993, and followed since their birth.

The aim of the proposed project is to investigate childhood and adolescent risk and protective factors for suicidality in a prospective cohort of Brazilians followed since their birth in 1993. Specifically, this project will address 3 objectives:

1) To investigate whether the association between adolescent adversity and suicide attempt is stronger among those who experience early life adversity
2) To investigate whether there are modifiable factors that may reduce the likelihood of suicide attempt after experiencing adversity
3) To investigate sex differences in the associations above

The proposed project will use data from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study, which has followed more than 5,000 children since their birth in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, in 1993. Early-life measures include sociodemographic factors and prenatal smoking and alcohol use. Childhood and adolescent measures include maternal mental health, exposure to violence and other stressful life events, nutrition, physical activity, relationship with parents, substance use, and symptoms of depression/anxiety, conduct problems, and hyperactivity. At ages 18 and 22, participants were asked if they had ever attempted suicide. 

This cohort provides an excellent opportunity to study risk and protective factors for suicide attempt in a middle-income community sample, due to the inclusion of assessments of mental health and suicidal behaviours in adolescence and early adulthood, and rich information on numerous potential risk and protective factors in early life, late childhood, and adolescence. Virtually no longitudinal birth cohort studies that could investigate early life risks for suicidal behaviour exist outside of high-income countries, apart from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study. The use of previously collected longitudinal data makes this project highly resource and time efficient. This study will provide evidence on the modifying role of lifestyle factors and early life stress in the association between stressful life events and suicide attempts outside of a high-income setting. The study will be led by a team that is embedded in the local community, and is consequently well placed to help guide local prevention and intervention efforts and influence national strategies for suicide prevention.

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