Attempted suicide among living co-twins of twin suicide victims.

Abstract

The authors hypothesized that significantly more living monozygotic than dizygotic co-twins of twin suicide victims would themselves have attempted suicide. They determined the absence or presence of an attempt at suicide at any time among 26 living monozygotic co-twins and nine living dizygotic co-twins of twins who had committed suicide. They found that 10 of the 26 surviving monozygotic co-twins but none of the nine surviving dizygotic co-twins had themselves attempted suicide. Although monozygotic and dizygotic twins may have some differing developmental experiences, these results contribute to findings of previous studies of suicide in twins in suggesting that genetic factors may play a role in suicidal behavior.