Abstract
Suicide is a major public health problem. Preventive measures have been sought by identifying risk factors. This study evaluates the association of childhood abuse and neglect with suicidal behavior at the time of psychiatric hospital admission. A total of 120 subjects (72 females; mean age 42.5 ± 15.6 years old) admitted from August 2006 to July 2007 completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to assess severity of exposure to childhood maltreatment. Thereof 62 (51.6%) patients presented with suicidal behavior at admission. Patients who had attempted suicide had significantly higher CTQ scores. Regression analysis indicated that shorter illness duration and severity of childhood maltreatment were predictors of suicidal behavior at admission. The study showed that inpatients of a psychiatric unit of a general hospital who experienced severe childhood abuse or neglect were significantly more likely to present with suicidal behavior. History of childhood maltreatment should be evaluated as an associated risk factor of suicidal behavior at admission of psychiatric inpatients.
References
2005). Reported childhood trauma, attempted suicide and self-mutilative behavior among women in the general population. European Psychiatry, 20, 268–273.
(2003). Suicide and serious suicide attempts in young people: A multiple group case control study. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1093–1099.
(1999). Self-reported abuse history and adolescent problem behaviors. I. Antisocial and suicidal behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 24, 163–72.
(1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire – a retrospective self-report – manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
(2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse and Neglect, 27, 169–190.
(1999). Childhood abuse and neglect: Specificity of effects on adolescent and young adult depression and suicidality. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 1490–1496.
(2007). Child-specific and family-wide risk factors using the retrospective Childhood Experience of Care & Abuse (CECA) instrument: A life-course study of adult chronic depression – 3. Journal of Affective Disorders, 103, 225–236.
(2007). Resilience to adult psychopathology following childhood maltreatment: Evidence from a community sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 31, 211–229.
(2006). Definitions of suicidal behavior: Lessons learned from the WHO: EURO multicenter study. Crisis, 27, 4–15.
(2001). Childhood abuse, household dysfunction, and the risk of attempted suicide throughout the life span: Findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. JAMA, 286, 3089–96.
(2000). Risk factors and life processes associated with the onset of suicidal behavior during adolescence and early adulthood. Psychological Medicine, 30, 23–39.
(2006). Translation and validation of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to a portuguese version. Revista de Saúde Pública, 40, 249–255.
(2005). Associations among childhood trauma, adolescent problem behaviors, and adverse adult outcomes in substance-abusing women offenders. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19, 43–53.
(2005). Childhood maltreatment in extremely obese male and female bariatric surgery candidates. Obesity Research, 13, 123–130.
(2007). The relationship between childhood abuse and adult personality disorder symptoms. Journal of Personality Disorders, 21, 442–447.
(2001). Detecting suicide risk in a pediatric emergency department: Development of a brief screening tool. Pediatrics, 107, 1133–1137.
(1996). Epidemiological data suggest antidepressants reduce suicide risk among depressives. Journal of Affective Disorders, 41, 1–8.
(2005). Suicide prevention and developing countries. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 98, 459–463.
(1987). Clinical epidemiology of suicide. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 48, 33–38.
(2004). Psychosocial risk factors associated with suicide attempts and violence among psychiatric inpatients. Psychiatric Services, 55, 1414–1419.
(1999). Perceived abuse and neglect as risk factors for suicidal behavior in adolescent inpatients. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 187, 32–39.
(2002). Clinical evaluation of prior suicide attempts and suicide risk in psychiatric inpatients. Crisis, 23, 47–54.
(2001). Child sexual abuse and subsequent psychopathology: Results from the national comorbidity survey. The American Journal of Public Health, 91, 753–760.
(2004). Relationship of childhood trauma to age of first suicide attempt and number of attempts in substance dependent patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 109, 121–125.
(2005). Family history of suicide, female sex, and childhood trauma: Separate or interacting risk factors for attempts at suicide? Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 112, 367–371.
(2005). Childhood trauma and impulsivity: Possible relevance to suicidal behavior. Archives of Suicide Research, 9, 147–151.
(2007). The current evidence base for the clinical care of suicidal patients: Strengths and weaknesses. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 52, 7S–20S.
(2007). Childhood trauma and suicide attempts in patients with unipolar depression. Depression and Anxiety, 24, 268–272.
(1998). The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): The development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 59, 22–33.
(2006). Rebuilding the tower of babel: A revised nomenclature for the study of suicide and suicidal behaviors. Part 1: Background, rationale and methodology. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37, 248–263.
(2007). Rebuilding the tower of babel: A revised nomenclature for the study of suicide and suicidal behaviors. Part 2: Suicide-related ideations, communications and behaviors. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37, 264–277.
(2007). Relationship to perpetrator, disclosure, social reactions, and PTSD symptoms in child sexual abuse survivors. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16, 19–36.
(2007). Determinants of early identification of suicidal ideation in patients treated with antidepressants or anxiolytics in general practice: A multilevel analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 99, 253–257.
(2005). Suicide in developing countries (2): Risk factors. Crisis, 26, 112–119.
(2006). Mapping the road from childhood trauma to adult somatization: The role of attachment. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 129–135.
(