Variation in suicidality among substance-abusing women - The role of childhood adversity

The relationship of early adversity to suicidality in later life has been n oted in diverse populations. Here we report such a relationship for a sampl e of African American women who smoke crack cocaine. This article is a seco ndary analysis of data from women (mean age = 31 years; range, 19-48) who w ere recruited from treatment settings (n = 152) or informal community conta cts (n = 56). The present analyses focused on measures related to investmen t in self-preservation and development, particularly suicidal ideation and attempts. Multiple regression analyses were used to model the effect of ear ly stress (sexual abuse, parental loss, and parental impairment) on the pri mary outcome measures (suicidality total, age at first consensual sexual re lations, and years of education). Suicidality was associated with childhood adversity (sexual abuse, loss of mother). Of those who had experienced ear ly sexual abuse, 42% had attempted suicide, compared to 19% of those who ha d not been sexually abused. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reser ved.