Unveiling Suicidal Risk in Young Child Sexual Abuse Victims: Prevalence and Predictive Markers

Child sexual abuse has repeatedly been identified as a risk factor for suicidal ideation and behavior, yet most research has focused on adolescents and young adults. Very little is known about suicidality in children exposed to sexual abuse in middle childhood, which is a developmental period marked by unique cognitive and socioemotional specificities. Gaining a better understanding of risk factors in this subgroup is crucial to inform age-appropriate prevention and intervention efforts. This study aimed to: 1) determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation and behavior in a sample of child victims of sexual abuse aged 6-12 years old, using both self- and parent-reports and 2) model a regression tree to identify the most potent markers of suicidal risk. A total of 783 children aged 6-12, and their non-offending caregivers, completed questionnaires on suicidality, and correlates of suicidal risk (e.g. depression, emotional regulation, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and perceived maternal support following disclosure of abuse). The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 31.2% and 11.4% according to children and parents, respectively. Findings revealed that emotional dysregulation and clinical levels of depression were the most influential variables in the prediction of suicide risk. Namely, the subgroup that showed the highest suicidal risk consisted of children who had both high levels of emotional dysregulation and clinical levels of depression. The decision tree model offers an important screening tool for clinicians wishing to identify children most at-risk of suicidality.