Citation

Taussig HN, Harpin SB, Maguire SA. Child Maltreat. 2014; 19(1): 17-26.

Affiliation

Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077559514525503

PMID

24567247

Abstract

This study sought to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts among 515 preadolescent (aged 9-11 years) maltreated children who entered foster care within the prior year. Over a quarter (26.4%) of the children had a history of suicidality according to their own and/or their caregiver's report, 4.1% of whom were imminently suicidal. In bivariate analyses, children at higher risk of suicidality tended to be younger, non-Hispanic, abused, and to have experienced multiple types of maltreatment, more referrals to child welfare, more household transitions, and a longer length of time in foster care. There were no gender differences. Multiple regression analyses found physical abuse and chronicity of maltreatment to be the most robust predictors of suicidality. It is critically important that these high-risk children are screened for suicidality before adolescence and that caregivers and professionals are informed of their risk status so that they may implement mental health treatment, monitoring, and harm reduction measures.

Language: en