Background. The features of adolescents who had taken an overdose were
assessed to determine the focus for a treatment trial. Method. Overdo
se cases were compared with psychiatric and community controls who had
not taken an overdose in respect of mental disorders and family backg
round. Results. Overdose cases had high rates of major depression, but
most of them recovered from depression within six weeks of the overdo
se. There was a specific association between taking an overdose and fa
mily dysfunction. Conclusions. Family dysfunction could be a useful fo
cus in a clinical trial of the aftercare of adolescents who have taken
an overdose.