Objective: Being exposed to trauma in childhood is an independent risk factor for suicide attempts. Early traumatic experiences and omissions may be associated with negative emotional, cognitive and neuro development changes and these can be predisposed many mental disorders, including suicidal behavior. The most important underlying risk factors of recurrent suicidal attempts defined as; exposure to unfavorable life events in the early developmental period, the presence of suicidal attempt which occur in adolescence, impulse control disorders. The aim of this study is investigating the relationship between multiple suicide attempts and childhood trauma. Our hypothesis is, the patients who have multiple suicide attempts have more traumatic experiences in childhood.
Method: 96 patients that has been followed in the Bursa Sevket Yilmaz Training and Research Hospital outpatient clinic or inpatient treatment in the psychiatric ward who had previously participated in suicide attempts were included to the study. Further information is given orally to patients prior to application and informed consent form was signed by patients. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), childhood traumatic experiences scale (DES) has been applied to patients. Results were divided into two groups as single and multiple suicide attempts.
Results: 96 patients who had suicide attempts were included in the study. 76 patients were female and 20 were male. 41 patients had a history of one, while 55 patients had multiple attempts of suicide. The mean age of patients, who attempted suicide once was 25.3±7.6 years and 26.3±7.4 years for multiple attempters. There were no statistically significant differences between the socio-demographic variables of patients like age, gender, marital status, education level, occupation, family suicide history, family history of psychiatric disorders among single or multiple suicide attempt groups (p> 0.05). In Table 1, between the two groups, there is no statistically significant difference in terms of BDI, BAI, physical neglect, and emotional neglect scores whereas there is statistically significant difference between physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse scores (respectively p=0.00, p=0.016, p=0.004).
Conclusion: In psychiatric disorders,a significant association between childhood trauma and suicide attempts can be found. Individuals having multiple suicidal attempts lead to important business and economic costs for emergency services, toxicology, psychiatry clinic and intensive care units. With a history of suicidal attempts at an early age or multiple history of suicidal attempts of individuals, clinical follow-up and therapy have an important place. However, in these subjects, the questioning of the features of childhood trauma seems to be important in clinical follow up.