Maltrato físico y emocional en la infancia y conducta suicida en el adulto

Abstract

Suicidal behavior is a complex phenomenon which is influenced by various distal risk factors, such as adverse experiences from childhood maltreatment. Our objectives were (1) to check whether psychiatric patients with a history of childhood physical and emotional abuse reported with higher frequency suicidal ideation and behavior throughout life than those without such experi ences, (2) to examine whether the different forms of maltreatment were differentially associated with suicidal behavior. The results indicate that childhood abuse was associated with a higher frequency of suicidal behavior, although only in those subjects with a history of physical abuse. The results are consistent with the theoretical proposition by T. Joiner, predicting that the involvement in suicidal behavior is predicted by a repeated experience of physical harm.