Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide Attempts: The Mediating Influence of Personality Development and Problem Behaviors.
Adverse childhood experiences, comprised of forms of maltreatment and certain dysfunctional household environments, can affect the development of a child in a variety of different ways. This multitude of developmental changes may subsequently produce compounding harmful effects on the child's life and increase acutely maladaptive outcomes, including adolescent suicidal behavior. This study uses data collected from 2007 to 2012 for 64,329 Florida Department of Juvenile Justice youth (21.67 % female, 42.88 % African American, and 15.37 % Hispanic) to examine the direct and indirect effects of adverse childhood experiences on suicide attempts. Using a generalized structural equation model, the effects of adverse childhood experience scores are estimated on suicidal behavior through pathways of certain aspects of a child's personality development (aggression and impulsivity), as well as adolescent problem behaviors (school difficulties and substance abuse). The results show that a large proportion of the relationship between childhood adversity and suicide is mediated by the aforementioned individual characteristics, specifically through the youth's maladaptive personality development. These results suggest that, if identified early enough, the developmental issues for these youth could potentially be addressed in order to thwart potential suicidal behavior.
School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management, College of Health and Human Services, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., ET-232, Long Beach, CA, 90840, USA.
Nicholas M
NM
Perez
Deptartment of Criminology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA. jenningswgj@usf.edu.|Deptartment of Mental Health Law and Policy, Faculty Affiliate, Florida Mental Health Institute, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SOC 309, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA. jenningswgj@usf.edu.
Wesley G
WG
Jennings
Program in Criminology, EPPS University of Texas at Dallas, EPPS 800 W. Campbell Road, GR31, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021, USA.
Alex R
AR
Piquero
G4S Youth Services, LLC, 6302 Benjamin Rd., Suite 400, Tampa, FL, 33643, USA.
Michael T
MT
Baglivio
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010553:Personality Development; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
ACE assessment; Aggression; Impulsivity; Juveniles; Maltreatment; School difficulties; Substance abuse; Suicide