There are strong links between childhood abuse and suicide attempts and this
research overview by the NSPCC looks at the relationship between child abuse,
particularly child sexual abuse, and other risk factors linked to subsequent
suicide attempts.
There is little concrete evidence on childhood suicide; the statistics suggest that it
is quite rare in younger age groups and recorded attempts of suicide only show
an increase after the age of 10, but coroners may be reluctant to label a death as
a suicide. There is however, some evidence that children as young as eight do
show suicide-ideation. Suicide ideation is a common feature of children and
young people who have experienced maltreatment, leading them to think about
wanting to die, planning the event and thinking about the effect of the suicide on
others.
Between 7 and 14 per cent of all adolescents will self-harm at some point in their
lives. However, as many as 20 to 45 per cent of older adolescents will have
suicidal thoughts and around 140,000 cases are recorded in A&E each year.
Death by suicide of a child or young person was recorded in 9 per cent of all
serious case reviews in England from the period 2003-2005 (Brandon et al,
2008).
Although there are many different factors related to suicide, the frequency of
adult suicide attempts does appear to be greater among men and women who
have experienced child sexual abuse. Both the intensity and duration of the
abuse have a direct bearing on the severity and persistence of suicide ideation
and suicide attempts.
Suicide is often preceded by a series of self destructive behaviours, and the most
accurate predictors are previous attempts and mental health problems. A number
of websites support and promote suicide, describing various methods for suicide
and there is a risk that children and young people can access these sites at a
time when they are feeling particularly vulnerable. However suicide pacts are
extremely rare in the UK, accounting for only 0.6 per cent of all suicides. In some
communities there has been a higher frequency of suicides and here it is more
likely that suicidal behaviours have become normalised and considered
acceptable. In 2007/08, 17 young people committed suicide in the county
borough of Bridgend, but although there were suggestions that this was an