Childhood sexual and physical abuse and adult self-harm and suicidal behaviour: a literature review.
This article reviews the link between childhood sexual and/or physical abuse and adult self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempt from 1988 to 1998 in the clinical literature. Despite the methodological and definitional concerns, empirical studies have generally demonstrated more reports of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behaviour in clinical and community populations of adults who report sexual and/or physical abuse in childhood than in comparison groups who do not report abuse. Implications for practice include the identification of populations at risk for self-harm or suicide and routine inquiry of abuse histories on admission. Further research into universal definitions of the key terms, standardized measurements of the variables, and longitudinal studies is required.
Santa Mina
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Inpatient Mental Health Services, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario.
Gallop
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D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*