Adverse childhood experiences and suicidal behavior of adolescent psychiatric inpatients

The present study examines the association of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to suicidal behavior and mortality in 508 Finnish adolescents (aged 12–17 years) who required acute psychiatric hospitalization between April 2001 and March 2006. The Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Present and Lifetime (K-SADS-PL) and the European Addiction Severity Index (EuropASI) were used to obtain information about ACEs, adolescents’ suicidal behavior and psychiatric diagnoses. The cases of death were obtained from Statistics Finland. The results of our study indicated that, among girls, exposure to sexual abuse statistically significantly increased the risk of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) (OR, 1.8; 95 % CI, 1.0–3.2) and suicide attempts (OR, 2.3; 95 % CI, 1.0–4.5). The cumulative number of ACEs was also associated with an increased risk of NSSI (OR, 1.2; 95 % CI, 1.0- 1.4) and suicide attempts (OR, 1.2; 95 % CI, 1.0–1.4) in girls. Among all deceased adolescents, ACEs were most notable among those who had died due to accidents and injuries. Gender differences in the types of ACEs were noted and discussed.