History of sexual abuse and suicide attempts in alcohol-dependent patients

Abstract

History of child abuse is considered one of the important risk factors of suicide attempt in general population. At the same time it has been shown that suicide attempts appear significantly more frequently in alcoholics than in healthy individuals. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between history of childhood sexual abuse and suicide attempts in a sample of Polish alcohol dependent patients. A sample of 364 alcohol-dependent subjects was recruited in alcohol treatment centers in Warsaw, Poland. Information was obtained about demographics, family history of psychiatric problems, history of suicide attempts, sexual and physical abuse during childhood and adulthood and severity of alcohol problems. When analyzed by gender, 7.4% of male and 39.2% of female patients had a lifetime history of sexual abuse; 31.9% of the study group reported at least one suicide attempt during their lifetime. Patients who reported suicide attempts were significantly younger (p=0.0008), had greater severity of alcohol dependence (p=0.0002), lower social support (p=0.003), and worse economic status (p=0.002). Moreover, there was a significant association between history of suicide attempts and family history of psychiatric problems (p=0.00025), suicide attempts in the family (p=0.0073), childhood history of sexual abuse (p=0.009) as well as childhood history of physical abuse (p=0.002). When entered into linear regression analysis with other dependent variables history of childhood sexual abuse remained a significant predictor of suicide attempt (OR=2.52; p=0.035). Lifetime experience of sexual abuse is a significant and independent risk factor of suicide attempts in alcohol-dependent individuals.