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Enduring Effects of Early Life Traumas on Adult Suicidal Ideation

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Abstract

Exposure to traumas early in life has been found to have a range of negative health effects later in adulthood, including a higher risk for suicidal behavior. Using data from the Waves I (1994/95) and IV (2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 14,385; 49.35% female; Mage in Wave IV = 29), this study examines the effects of exposure to three different types of early life traumas—emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse before the age of 18—on adult suicidal ideation. Guided by the stress process model incorporated with a life-course perspective, potential mediating roles of psychological distress, subjective powerlessness, and perceived social rejection were also investigated. A series of regression and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) mediation analyses were performed using Stata 14 to assess the total, direct, and indirect effects. All three early life trauma measures were found to be significantly and independently associated with a higher risk of suicidal ideation in adulthood. A substantive portion (between 30 and 50%) of the effects was mediated by psychological distress (i.e., depression and anxiety), subjective powerlessness, and perceived social rejection. The general policy implications of this study include evaluating suicidal individuals for prior childhood abuse experiences and assessing abuse survivors for suicidality.

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Acknowledgements

Add Health is directed by Robert A. Hummer and funded by the National Institute on Aging cooperative agreements U01 AG071448 (Hummer) and U01AG071450 (Aiello and Hummer) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Waves I-V data are from the Add Health Program Project, grant P01 HD31921 (Harris) from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Add Health was designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, Utah Tech University, 232 McDonald Center, 84770, St. George, UT, USA

    Muhammed Yıldız

  2. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, USA

    Uğur Orak

  3. General Education & Health Sciences Department, Baptist Health Sciences University, Memphis, TN, USA

    Ramazan Aydoğdu

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  1. Muhammed Yıldız
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  2. Uğur Orak
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Yıldız, M., Orak, U. & Aydoğdu, R. Enduring Effects of Early Life Traumas on Adult Suicidal Ideation. Journ Child Adol Trauma 16, 297–307 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-022-00482-1

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