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Child Abuse and Attempted Suicide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Jacquie Roberts  and
Keith Hawton
Jacquie Roberts
Affiliation:
Human Development Research Unit, Park Hospital for Children, Oxford OX3 7LQ
Keith Hawton
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX
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Summary

Of a sample of families containing abused and at risk children, in 29 per cent one or both parents had attempted suicide. The rate at which the suicide attempts were repeated within a year was higher than that expected for other attempters of the same age group. A previous history of psychiatric disturbance and marital breakdown was strongly associated with the combination of child abuse and suicidal behaviour. The relationship between child abuse and attempted suicide did not appear in most cases to have been a direct one; often both forms of behaviour seemed to reflect marital difficulties.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 137 , Issue 4 , October 1980 , pp. 319 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980 

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