Table 4.

Descriptive Characteristics of Perpetrators Who Killed Their Own Children, Filicide-Suicide Versus Familicide-Suicide, NVDRS 2003–2009

	Filicide-Suicide Perpetratorsa		Familicide-Suicide Perpetratorsb
	No.	Percent	No.	Percent	p value
Race/Ethnicity					0.48
White non-Hispanic	41	62.1%	21	70.0%
Black non-Hispanic	12	18.2%	5	16.7%
Hispanic	11	16.7%	**	**
Other	**	**	**	**
Sex					<0.01
Male	40	60.6%	27	90.0%
Female	26	39.4%	3	10.0%
Age					0.85
20–34 years	18	27.3%	9	30.0%
35–49 years	45	68.2%	19	63.3%
50–64 years	3	4.5%	**	**
≥65 years	**	**	**	**
Mean (standard deviation)		37.5 (7.9)		38.6 (8.8)
Marital Status					0.20
Married	35	53.0%	10	33.3%
Never married, single not otherwise specified	8	12.1%	6	20.0%
Widowed, divorced, separated	22	33.3%	12	40.0%
Unknown	**	**	**	**
Weapon/Mechanism Used for Suicide					0.58
Firearm	35	53.0%	20	66.7%
Sharp/blunt instrument	4	6.1%	**	**
Poisoning	9	13.6%	**	**
Hanging	8	12.1%	3	10.0%
Other	10	15.2%	5	16.7%
Unknown	**	**	**	**
Preceding Circumstances
Current health circumstances
Current depressed mood	17	25.8%	4	13.3%	0.20
Current mental health problem	14	21.2%	4	13.3%	0.41
Alcohol dependence	**	**	**	**	**
Other substance abuse problems	**	**	**	**	**
Suspected alcohol use immediately prior to incident	8	12.1%	5	16.7%	0.54
Physical health problems	**	**	**	**	**
Disclosed intent	8	12.1%	4	13.3%	1.00
Current stress-related circumstances
Financial problems	7	10.6%	5	16.7%	0.51
Job problem	7	10.6%	4	13.3%	0.74
Intimate partner problems	41	62.1%	23	76.7%	0.24
Other relationship problem	9	13.6%	7	23.3%	0.25
Number of Different Current Health and Stress Related Problemsc					0.28
0	13	19.7%	4	13.3%
1	36	54.5%	14	46.7%
2+	17	25.8%	12	40.0%
Mental Health History
History of mental health problems	10	15.2%	5	16.7%	1.00
History of suicide attempts	3	4.5%	**	**	**
Mental Health Treatment
Current mental health treatment	8	12.1%	4	13.3%	1.00
Premeditation
Left a note	18	27.3%	9	30.0%	0.81
Total	66	100.0%	30	100.0%

Note.

NVDRS: National Violent Death Reporting System

^aDefined as those who killed only their own children before committing suicide.

^bDefined as those who killed their own children and the other parent of the child victim(s) before committing suicide.

^cThe different health- and stress-related circumstances included a current mental health problem, alcohol dependence, other substance abuse problems, physical health problem, financial problems, job problems, intimate partner problems, and other relationship problems.

^**Items with less than 3 counts were suppressed to prevent potential identification of decedents.