Anne Ranning

Mental Health Center Copenhagen · Research Unit

Background Children of parents with mental illness have an increased risk of developing mental illness themselves throughout the lifespan. This is due to genetic factors but also environmental disadvantages during childhood associated with parental mental illness. Selective primary preventive interventions for the children are recommended to mitiga...

Objective: The aim of this study was to: (1) determine the proportion of callers to a national helpline for suicide prevention who were evaluated to be at risk of suicide; (2) identify characteristics associated with being at risk; (3) determine the level of suicidal ideation among callers, as measured by a clinical scale, and compared to the gene...

Background Suicidal behaviour runs in families, but the nature of transgenerational concordance needs elucidation. The aim of this study was to examine parent-to-child transmission by investigating whether presence and nature of parental suicidal behaviour was associated with suicidal behaviour in children. Methods We did a retrospective, nationwi...

Background: Reviews of camera surveillance systems have demonstrated ambivalent behaviors among people who die by railway suicide. Yet, only few preventive measures have been evaluated. Aims: We aimed to review incidents of suicidal behavior at a Danish railway station, install preventive measures, and monitor subsequent calls to a telephone helpli...

Objective Parental severe mental illness (SMI) increases the lifetime risk of mental and pediatric disorders in the offspring but little is known about specific disorders during early childhood. The primary aim was to investigate the incidence of mental and pediatric disorders among children 0-6 years old exposed to parental SMI, and secondarily to...

Background The association between suicide attempts (SAs) in parents and children is unclear, and risk indicators for intergenerational transmission remain undocumented. We aimed to assess this association, considering the child's developmental period at the time of parents' attempted suicide, and the parental relation. Methods Using a prospective...

PurposeSevere mental illness (SMI) may interfere with parental caregiving practices and offspring development. Adhering to preventive well-child visits and maintaining good oral hygiene during early childhood requires parental involvement. Whether these activities are affected by parental SMI is unclear. The purpose of the present study was to dete...

Objective Little is known about people who have been exposed to a suicide attempt by someone they know. The purpose of this study was to examine how many people have been exposed to a suicide attempt by someone they knew and whether the exposure was associated with general well‐being and suicidal ideation. Method A population‐based online survey w...

AimsPreventive interventions for children of parents with mental illness are widely recommended. Mental health services entrust concern for patients’ children by referrals to child protection services. We investigated service coverage for children following referrals.Methods Data from referrals regarding 376 children of adult psychiatry patients ov...

It is well established that children with familial high risk of schizophrenia (FHR-SZ) or bipolar disorder (FHR-BP) have a higher risk of developing mental disorders, however, little is known of to what degree the genetic and environmental vulnerabilities affect the quality of life and self-esteem of these children. We aimed to compare the quality...

Background Children born to parents with severe mental illness like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or recurrent major depression have been shown to have a higher risk, not only for developing a mental illness themselves in adulthood (Rasic) but also in childhood and adolescence. Less is known about the offspring’s somatic health and very early dev...

Background: The offspring of parents with severe mental illness (SMI) are at higher risk of mortality and of developing certain somatic diseases. However, across the full spectrum of somatic illness, there remains a gap in knowledge regarding morbidity. Methods: We conducted a register-based nationwide cohort study of all 2 000 694 individuals b...

Poor school performance and risk of not completing primary education have been observed in children born of mothers with severe psychiatric disorders (eg, schizophrenia) at the time of conception¹ and of mothers with mental disorders with specific onset during pregnancy and postpartum.²,3 It is, however, unknown whether the specific timing of onset...

Background: Studies have suggested that poor school achievement is associated with increased risk of schizophrenia; however, the possible genetic contribution to this association is unknown. We investigated the possible effect of the polygenic risk score (PRS) for schizophrenia (PRSSCZ) and for educational attainment (PRSEDU) on the association be...

Objectives Little is known about risk of custody loss or out‐of‐home placement among children whose mothers experience postpartum mental disorders, and whether this risk differs from that of children whose mothers had earlier onset of their mental disorder. Methods National Danish registers comprising 1 868 467 births (1982–2012) were used to dete...

Background Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BP) are causes of severe disability worldwide and parents’ severe mental illness (SMI) is associated with childhood adversity, and socio-emotional and cognitive problems in children. Yet, how parental BP and SZ affect educational attainment in offspring is still unclear. Method We included all ch...

Background: Offspring of parents with severe mental illness (SMI: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder) have an increased risk of developing mental disorder themselves. In childhood they may have neurodevelopmental delays, cognitive deficits and social adversities. We aimed to investigate if these individuals are more at ri...

Objective: To provide an overview of living arrangements during childhood for children of parents with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Method: Information was obtained from Danish registers on children's addresses and used to calculate the proportion living in different household living arrangements. The study was conducted as a...

Background: Severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are known to be diseases that to someextent, but not entirely can be understood genetically. The dominating hypothesis is that these disorders should be understood in a neurodevelopmental perspective where genes and environment as well as gene-environment-interactions cont...

To study how often severe psychiatric disorders adversely affect a person's ability to be a parent, indicated by the child being placed in out-of-home care. This study was conducted in 2013 as a prospective, register-based cohort study covering all first-born singletons in the entire Danish population born after 1982 (N = 782,092) and their parents...