Investigating the role of childhood victimization in suicidal and self-injurious behavior among a sample of male inmates: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Suicide and non suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are very common among prisoners. The prevalence of mental illness and substance use disorder is higher in prison than in the community¹ and the relative risk of death by suicide inside the prison is about 3–6 times that of the general population². In addition prisoners have greater experiences of childhood trauma (CT), a known exposition associated with suicidal behaviors³. Objectives: To examine associations among CT and life-time suicide attempt or NSSI. Methods: We enrolled 88 male inmates. The sample was divided, according to presence of life-time suicide attempts or NSSI, into two groups, compared for sociodemographic and clinic characteristics. History of CT was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form (CTQ-SF) 4. The presence of specific trauma (emotional, physical and sexual abuse; emotional and physical neglect) was determined by meeting a threshold of moderate maltreatment severity 5 . Conclusions: The findings could indicate the importance of considering the impact of co-occurring CT in terms of intervention on suicidal behaviors and NSSI mostly in prisoners with dual diagnosis. Results: Subjects with (n=25) and without a history of suicide attempt or NSSI (n=63) show a statistically significant association in the scores of all five subscales of CTQ-SF. After controlling for potentially confounders, dual diagnosis (OR:2.6 , 95% CI: 1.1-3.9) and childhood physical abuse (OR:2.9 , 95% CI: 1.2-4.6) was related to an increasing likelihood of suicide attempt or NSSI. The likelihood was higher among subjects with two or more CT (OR:6.2, 95% CI: 3.3-9.2).