Citation

Behr Gomes Jardim G, Novelo M, Spanemberg L, von Gunten A, Engroff P, Nogueira EL, Cataldo Neto A. Child Abuse Negl. 2018; 80: 249-256.

Affiliation

Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia - IGG, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS, Brazil; Nucleo Especifico de Formacao em Psiquiatria, Escola de Medicina da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Electronic address: cataldo@pucrs.br.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.03.029

PMID

29631256

Abstract

The association of childhood maltreatment and suicide has been extensively examined within the population. Depression figures as a main cause for the elevated suicide rate in advanced ages and is often related to childhood maltreatment. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment subtypes and suicide risk, testing geriatric depression as a moderator. This is a cross-sectional study looking at a sample of 449 individuals 60 year s old or older from the Multidimensional Study of the Elderly of Porto Alegre Family Health Strategy, Brazil (EMI-SUS/POA). Childhood maltreatment (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), geriatric depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale), and suicide risk (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) were assessed. The subtypes of childhood abuse and neglect were significantly associated with suicide risk. In the multivariate analysis, controlling for age, gender, income, marital status, ethnicity, smoking, and geriatric depression symptoms, all trauma subtypes remained associated with suicide risk with the exception of physical neglect (EA = 3.65; PA = 3.16; SA = 5.1; EN = 2.43; PN = 1.76). The present study showed that childhood maltreatment subtypes predicted suicide risk, and geriatric depression does not directly mediate this relation.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Childhood maltreatment; Elderly; Geriatric depression; Suicide risk