Studies on the transmission of suicide risk have focused on parental history of suicide attempts (SAs), overlooking when the attempt happened. This study examined how the offspring's risk of attempting or dying by suicide varied by the timing of a first parental SA and the sex of the parent who attempted suicide.

Participants were 59 469 members of the 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort. The Finnish Hospital Discharge and Cause of Death Registers were the sources for parental and offspring SAs and offspring suicide. Timing of parental SA was coded as before (pre-pregnancy and pregnancy) and after the child's birth [infant/toddler years (0–2 years), childhood (3–11 years), adolescence (12–17 years), and young adulthood (18–26 years)].

In the multivariate models, having a parent who attempted suicide increased the offspring's risk of attempting suicide (odds ratio (OR) = 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39–2.25), but not of dying by suicide. Compared to unexposed offspring, those exposed after child's birth were at higher risk of attempting suicide (OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.46–2.47), specifically when the parent attempted during offspring's childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. A first maternal SA increased offspring's risk of attempting suicide regardless of the timing.

The impact of a parental SA on offspring's risk of attempting suicide differed depending on the timing and sex of the parent who attempted suicide, suggesting that the transmission of suicide risk may occur through genetic as well as environmental factors. Our findings call for an intergenerational approach in suicide risk assessment.

关于自杀风险传播的研究主要集中在父母自杀未遂史（SA），而忽略了自杀企图发生的时间。这项研究调查了后代试图自杀或死于自杀的风险如何随父母第一次自杀的时间和试图自杀的父母的性别而变化。

参与者是 1987 年芬兰出生队列的 59 469 名成员。芬兰医院出院和死亡原因登记册是父母和子女 SA 以及子女自杀的来源。父母SA的时间编码为之前（怀孕前和怀孕）和孩子出生后[婴儿/幼儿岁（0-2岁）、儿童期（3-11岁）、青春期（12-17岁）和青少年成年期（18-26 岁）]。

在多变量模型中，父母中有一方尝试自杀会增加后代尝试自杀的风险（比值比 (OR) = 1.77，95% 置信区间 (CI) 1.39–2.25），但不会增加后代自杀的风险。与未接触过暴露的后代相比，那些在孩子出生后接触过暴露的后代尝试自杀的风险更高（OR = 1.90，95% CI 1.46–2.47），特别是当父母在后代的童年、青春期和成年早期尝试自杀时。无论何时，第一次母亲自杀都会增加后代尝试自杀的风险。

父母SA对后代尝试自杀风险的影响因父母尝试自杀的时间和性别而异，这表明自杀风险的传播可能通过遗传和环境因素发生。我们的研究结果呼吁在自杀风险评估中采用代际方法。