Psychiatry Investig.  2015 Apr;12(2):171-176. 10.4306/pi.2015.12.2.171.

Childhood Exposure to Psychological Trauma and the Risk of Suicide Attempts: The Modulating Effect of Psychiatric Disorders

• Park S
• Hong JP
• Jeon HJ
• Seong S
• Cho MJ

• KMID: 2316425
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2015.12.2.171

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
We examined whether childhood exposure to psychological trauma is associated with greater suicidality and whether specific psychiatric disorders modulate this association in a representative sample of Korean adults.
METHODS
The Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1 was administered to 6,027 subjects aged 18-74 years. Subjects who experienced a traumatic event before the age of 18 years, the childhood-trauma-exposure group, were compared with controls without childhood trauma exposure.
RESULTS
Childhood exposure to psychological trauma was associated with lifetime suicidal ideation (OR=3.19, 95% CI=2.42-4.20), suicide plans (OR=4.15, 95% CI=2.68-6.43), and suicide attempts (OR=4.52, 95% CI=2.97-6.88). These associations weakened after further adjustment for any psychiatric disorders, but they were not eliminated. The risk of suicide attempts related to childhood trauma increased with the presence of a concurrent alcohol use, depressive, or eating disorder.
CONCLUSION
In terms of clinical implications, patients with these disorders who have a history of childhood trauma should be carefully assessed for their suicide risk and aggressively treated for psychiatric disorders.

Keyword

Trauma; Psychiatric disorders; Suicide

MeSH Terms

Adult
Feeding and Eating Disorders
Humans
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide*