NCJ Number
170898
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 21 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1997) Pages: 1169-1176
Date Published
1997
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study compared reported histories and severity of child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, and both in relation to lifetime suicidality in a sample of college men and women.
Abstract
A total of 486 consenting college undergraduates completed measures of suicidality, sexual abuse (SA), and physical abuse (PA). Based on their responses, they were categorized into 12 mutually exclusive groups: no PA/no SA (n = 234); moderate PA/no SA (n = 78); severe PA/no SA (n = 34); no PA/mild SA (n = 21); moderate PA/mild SA (n = 12); severe PA/mild SA (n = 5); no PA/moderate SA (n = 20); moderate PA/moderate SA (n = 15); and severe PA/moderate SA (n = 10). Participants who reported both severe sexual abuse and severe physical abuse also reported more lifetime suicidality than participants who reported mild sexual and/or physical abuse. Those who reported sexual abuse that involved invasive sexual acts such as rape and physical abuse that resulted in physical injury to the child were more suicidal than those who reported less severe abuse. In addition, although combined sexual and physical abuse correlated with increased suicidality, unexpectedly, there was no interaction. Finally, women students endorsed more reasons for living than men and about the same level of suicidal ideas and global suicidality, despite a greater likelihood of having been abused. The absence of an interaction between sexual and physical abuse suggests that this increased suicidality is additive rather than multiplicative. An implication is that college counseling personnel need to be aware of the suicidal risk of women and men students who report either sexual or physical abuse. 1 table and 24 references