A copy of this article can be requested from the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences. See: http://www.chmeds.ac.nz/research/suicide/public.htm

This chapter, a preliminary analysis examining the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and suicidal behaviour, summarises the results of a study collected and conducted by the Canterbury Suicide Project. The first aim of the analysis was to estimate rates of childhood sexual abuse in a sample of medically serious suicide attempters versus a randomly selected control group from the community. The second aim was to estimate an association between childhood sexual abuse and suicidal behavioural risks before and after adjustment for social and contextual factors. The results show that there is a strong and obvious relationship between childhood sexual abuse and suicidal behaviour when there is an increase of a dysfunctional family environment. There are three major concerns regarding the results of this analysis: the small sample size; association issues raised by the research design; and the limited factors explored within this analysis.

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In P. R. Joyce, R. T. Mulder, M. A. Oakley-Browne, J. D. Sellman & W. G. A Watkins (Eds.). Development, Personality and Psychopathology