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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide Attempts: The Mediating Influence of Personality Development and Problem Behaviors

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences, comprised of forms of maltreatment and certain dysfunctional household environments, can affect the development of a child in a variety of different ways. This multitude of developmental changes may subsequently produce compounding harmful effects on the child’s life and increase acutely maladaptive outcomes, including adolescent suicidal behavior. This study uses data collected from 2007 to 2012 for 64,329 Florida Department of Juvenile Justice youth (21.67 % female, 42.88 % African American, and 15.37 % Hispanic) to examine the direct and indirect effects of adverse childhood experiences on suicide attempts. Using a generalized structural equation model, the effects of adverse childhood experience scores are estimated on suicidal behavior through pathways of certain aspects of a child’s personality development (aggression and impulsivity), as well as adolescent problem behaviors (school difficulties and substance abuse). The results show that a large proportion of the relationship between childhood adversity and suicide is mediated by the aforementioned individual characteristics, specifically through the youth’s maladaptive personality development. These results suggest that, if identified early enough, the developmental issues for these youth could potentially be addressed in order to thwart potential suicidal behavior.

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Notes

  1. Significance calculated using Sobel test (Sobel 1982, 1986).

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Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge and thank Director Mark Greenwald and Nathan Epps from the Office of Research and Data Integrity at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice for allowing access to the sensitive data provided for this study. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice or the members of the FDJJ Office of Research and Data Integrity.

Author contributions

Nicholas Perez conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination and drafted the manuscript; Wesley Jennings participated in the design of the study and aided with the interpretation of the data; Alex R. Piquero aided with the interpretations of the data and reviewed the manuscript; Michael Baglivio assisted with data collection, aided with the design of the study, and aided with the interpretations of the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management, College of Health and Human Services, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., ET-232, Long Beach, CA, 90840, USA

    Nicholas M. Perez

  2. Deptartment of Criminology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA

    Wesley G. Jennings

  3. Deptartment of Mental Health Law and Policy, Faculty Affiliate, Florida Mental Health Institute, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SOC 309, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA

    Wesley G. Jennings

  4. Program in Criminology, EPPS University of Texas at Dallas, EPPS 800 W. Campbell Road, GR31, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021, USA

    Alex R. Piquero

  5. G4S Youth Services, LLC, 6302 Benjamin Rd., Suite 400, Tampa, FL, 33643, USA

    Michael T. Baglivio

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Correspondence to Wesley G. Jennings.

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The authors report no conflict of interests.

Ethical Approval

The study detailed in this manuscript was approved by both the University of South Florida’s IRB (CR1_Pro00015635) and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice’s (FDJJ) IRB.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was waived/did not apply as the data relied on in this study represented a secondary analysis of de-identified, pre-existing agency data.

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Perez, N.M., Jennings, W.G., Piquero, A.R. et al. Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide Attempts: The Mediating Influence of Personality Development and Problem Behaviors. J Youth Adolescence 45, 1527–1545 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0519-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0519-x

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