The Relationship Among Childhood Sexual Abuse, Parental Alcoholism, Family Environment and Suicidal Behavior in Female College Students

This study investigated the relationship among childhood sexual abuse and parental alcoholism, retroscpective reports of family functioning, and having had a history of either suicidal ideation or suicide attempts. Subjects were drawn from a sample of undergraduate college women. Results demonstrated that the experiences of childhood sexual abuse and parental alcoholism independetly predicted higher levels of suicidality. In addition, subjects' reports of past family conflict were associated with higher levels of suicidality, whereas reports that families were cohesive, fostered expressiveness and indpendence, engaged in intellectual-cultural recreational opportunities, and emphasized moral-religous values were associated with decreased risk. Regression models were found useful in describing the joint effects of childhood adversity and family environment.