Influence of childhood abuse and neglect subtypes on late-life suicide risk beyond depression

Gabriel Behr Gomes Jardim; Marta Novelo; Lucas Spanemberg; Armin von Gunten; Paula Engroff; Eduardo Lopes Nogueira; Alfredo Cataldo Neto

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.03.029

Influence of childhood abuse and neglect subtypes on late-life suicide risk beyond depression

Child Abuse Negl. 2018 Jun:80:249-256. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.03.029. Epub 2018 Apr 7.

Authors

Gabriel Behr Gomes Jardim¹, Marta Novelo², Lucas Spanemberg³, Armin von Gunten⁴, Paula Engroff⁵, Eduardo Lopes Nogueira⁶, Alfredo Cataldo Neto⁷

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia - IGG, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS, Brazil. Electronic address: gabriel.jardim@acad.pucrs.br.
² Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia - IGG, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS, Brazil. Electronic address: marta.novelo@acad.pucrs.br.
³ Nucleo Especifico de Formacao em Psiquiatria, Escola de Medicina da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Departamento de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Brazil. Electronic address: lucas.spanemberg@pucrs.br.
⁴ Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie de l'Age Avance - SUPAA, University of Lausanne - UNIL, Switzerland. Electronic address: armin.von-gunten@chuv.ch.
⁵ Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia - IGG, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS, Brazil. Electronic address: Paula.engroff@pucrs.br.
⁶ Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia - IGG, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS, Brazil; Nucleo Especifico de Formacao em Psiquiatria, Escola de Medicina da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Electronic address: eduardo.nogueira@acad.pucrs.br.
⁷ Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia - IGG, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS, Brazil; Nucleo Especifico de Formacao em Psiquiatria, Escola de Medicina da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Electronic address: cataldo@pucrs.br.

PMID: 29631256
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.03.029

Abstract

The association of childhood maltreatment and suicide has been extensively examined within the population. Depression figures as a main cause for the elevated suicide rate in advanced ages and is often related to childhood maltreatment. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment subtypes and suicide risk, testing geriatric depression as a moderator. This is a cross-sectional study looking at a sample of 449 individuals 60 year s old or older from the Multidimensional Study of the Elderly of Porto Alegre Family Health Strategy, Brazil (EMI-SUS/POA). Childhood maltreatment (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), geriatric depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale), and suicide risk (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) were assessed. The subtypes of childhood abuse and neglect were significantly associated with suicide risk. In the multivariate analysis, controlling for age, gender, income, marital status, ethnicity, smoking, and geriatric depression symptoms, all trauma subtypes remained associated with suicide risk with the exception of physical neglect (EA = 3.65; PA = 3.16; SA = 5.1; EN = 2.43; PN = 1.76). The present study showed that childhood maltreatment subtypes predicted suicide risk, and geriatric depression does not directly mediate this relation.

Keywords: Childhood maltreatment; Elderly; Geriatric depression; Suicide risk.

MeSH terms

Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / psychology
Adult Survivors of Child Adverse Events / psychology*
Aged
Brazil
Child
Child Abuse / psychology*
Child Abuse, Sexual / psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depressive Disorder / psychology*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Suicide / psychology*
Surveys and Questionnaires