Additive Impact of Childhood Emotional, Physical, and Sexual Abuse on Suicide Attempts among Low‐Income African American Women

Abstract

This study examines the association between exposures to multiple forms of childhood abuse (emotional, physical, sexual) and adult suicidal behavior in a sample of low-income, African American women. We hypothesized a linear relation between childhood abuse and risk for making a suicide attempt, such that the more forms of childhood abuse to which a woman was exposed, the greater her risk would be to make a suicide attempt. Logistic regression analyses revealed that, compared to women who did not report any experiences of childhood abuse, women who experienced one, two, or three forms of abuse were 1.83, 2.29, or 7.75 times more likely to attempt suicide, respectively (all statistically significant). Furthermore, compared to women who reported one or two types of abuse, women who reported all three types of abuse were statistically more likely to attempt suicide. These findings have implications for clinicians working with African American women who report either childhood abuse or exhibit suicidal behavior.

The impact of cumulative childhood adversity on young adult mental health: Measures, models, and interpretations

“…This is an important issue in the life course perspective which maintains that the importance of event exposure in shaping the subsequent life course is not determined in isolation. Despite evidence for nonadditivity in the effects of multiple adversities (e.g., (Anderson, Tiro, Price, Bender, & Kaslow, 2002;Kessler, Davis, & Kendler, 1997), researchers modeling the impact of cumulative adversity rarely test for non-linearity in the effects of CCA. More fine-tuned specification of this statistical relationship may provide important clues to the developmental mechanisms undergirding these effects.…”

Psychopathy and Suicidality in Female Offenders: Mediating Influences of Personality and Abuse.

“…As per previous work (Verona et al, 2001), the MPQ-bf factor scores of Behavioral Constraint and Negative Emotionality were used in study analyses. The Negative Emotionality factor of the MPQ is marked by trait scales of Stress Reaction, Alienation, and 4 The abuse literature tends to emphasize the detrimental effects of both types of childhood abuse on psychological and functional outcomes (Anderson, Tiro, Price, Bender, & Kaslow, 2002). However, these effects appear to be additive rather than interactive (Thakkar, Gutierrez, Kuczen, & McCanne, 2000).…”

A (in)visibilidade da violência psicológica na infância e adolescência no contexto familiar

“…Nos 51 estudos epidemiológicos encontrouse que 14 destes (27,5%) são exclusivos com amostra do sexo feminino 14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27 . Em relação à idade dos entrevistados, 35 artigos (68,6%) utilizaram como amostra de pesquisa a faixa etária dos adultos e 16 artigos (31,4%), adolescentes e crianças 10,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41 .…”

“…Em relação aos objetivos destes artigos analisados, encontrou-se que 18 destes (35,3%) investigaram a exposição à violência psicológica na infância correlacionando-a a diversas variáveis, que demonstraram a associação dessa exposição com repercussões na saúde mental (ansiedade, depressão e tentativa de suicídio) e com repercussões na saúde física (distúrbios alimentares e a obesidade) 12,13,14,15,16,19,20,23,26,29,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49 .…”

“…Além disso, o fato dos artigos serem realizados em diferentes culturas aumentou a contribuição para o conhecimento do tema, reforçando que a violência vivida na infância, em especial a violência psicológica, origina danos reais e potenciais na saúde física e mental de crianças e adolescentes, tendo repercussões a curto e longo prazo, ou seja, refletindo também na vida adulta destas pessoas 14,15,16,17,20,21,22,23,24,25,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,55 . É importante sensibilizar a rede de atenção a vítimas de violência e a sociedade em geral com a noção de que a violência psicológica promove uma mensagem cultural específica de rejeição que prejudica de forma re-levante o processo de socialização e desenvolvimento psicológico, com graves efeitos especialmente quando ocorre na infância e adolescência 27,28,30,33,35,36,38,39 .…”