Purpose

This study examines the impact of several forms of past-year maltreatment on thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation and considers how these effects may vary by gender.

Methods

Analyses are based on telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 6,364 youth aged 10–17 years, from three waves (2008, 2011, and 2014) of the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence. Suicidal and self-harm ideation were measured with items from the Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Children. Emotional maltreatment, physical maltreatment, neglect, and witnessing family violence were measured using items from the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire.

Results

Over 8% of the sample reported suicidal and/or self-harm ideation in the past month, with females more likely to report these outcomes than males. Youth who experienced recent emotional maltreatment, neglect, or witnessing family violence were more likely to report suicidal or self-harm ideation, independent of the other maltreatment types, presence of an internalizing disorder, and demographics. A dose-response relationship between the number of types of maltreatments and these outcomes was also evident. Finally, females were more negatively affected by emotional abuse and by experiencing two forms of past-year maltreatment than their male counterparts.

Conclusions

Emotional abuse was the type of maltreatment most strongly related to thoughts of self-harm and/or suicidal ideation and was particularly detrimental to females in this sample. Given the especially damaging effects of exposure to multiple forms of maltreatment, our research highlights the importance of including comprehensive maltreatment assessment in youth suicide and self-harm prevention efforts.

中文翻译：

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近期虐待对全国青年样本中自杀意念和自残念头的独立和累积影响

目的

本研究考察了过去一年中的几种形式的虐待对自残和自杀意念的影响，并考虑了这些影响如何因性别而异。

方法

分析基于对全国儿童暴力暴露调查三波（2008 年、2011 年和 2014 年）的 6,364 名 10-17 岁青年的全国代表性样本的电话采访。使用儿童创伤症状检查表中的项目测量自杀和自残念头。情感虐待、身体虐待、忽视和目睹家庭暴力是使用青少年受害问卷中的项目来衡量的。

结果

在过去的一个月里，超过 8% 的样本报告了自杀和/或自残的想法，女性比男性更有可能报告这些结果。最近经历过情感虐待、忽视或目睹家庭暴力的青少年更有可能报告有自杀或自残念头，独立于其他虐待类型、存在内化障碍和人口统计数据。虐待类型的数量与这些结果之间的剂量反应关系也很明显。最后，与男性相比，女性受到情感虐待和过去一年遭受两种形式的虐待的负面影响更大。

结论

情感虐待是与自残和/或自杀意念最密切相关的虐待类型，对本样本中的女性尤其有害。鉴于暴露于多种形式的虐待尤其具有破坏性，我们的研究强调了将全面的虐待评估纳入青少年自杀和自残预防工作的重要性。