Clinical features and risk factors related with suicide attempts in sexually abused children and adolescents

Objective: This study investigated the sociodemographic variables, intelligence levels, psychiatric disorders, and suicide risks of sexually abused children and adolescents who were referred for forensic examination to our child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic. Method: Forensic reports of 157 children and adolescents aged 3-17 years who had been referred to our child psychiatry outpatient clinic between July 2011 -June 2012 were examined retrospectively. Results: Of 157 sexually abused cases, 83.4 % were girls and 16.6 % were boys. The psychiatric diagnosis rate at the time of admission to hospital was 87.9%. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (36.9 %) was the most common psychiatric diagnosis among the victims. 22 patients (14 %) had attempted suicide after the sexual abuse. Forced vaginal-anal or oral penetration, depressive disorder, and PTSD significantly increased the risk of suicide attempts. (in order OR: 3.24, 4.05, 6.78, p= 0.045, 0.03, 0.004 respectively). Conclusion: Most of the sexual abused children had psychiatric disorders. The most common disorder was PTSD. Thus, the risks of suicide must be handled and interventions should be planned on this basis.