Adverse Childhood Experiences as Predictors of Self-harm and Suicide
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Adverse Childhood Experiences as Predictors of Self-harm and Suicide
IRAS ID
187841
Contact name
Rory O'Connor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Suicide and self-harm (SH) are major public health concerns. Suicide is the leading cause of death in Scotland among people aged 15-34 years, and one of the main causes of premature death in men (NHS Information Services Division, 2014). Whilst there have been many research studies that have increased our understanding of suicide, the risk factors identified by these studies are very general and mean that it is still difficult to identify specific individuals within high risk groups who are more likely to take their own lives than others.
Although many factors are implicated as leading to suicidal behaviour, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) studies undertaken in the USA (Felitti et al., 1998) and the UK (Bellis et al., 2014; Kelly-Irving et al., 2013) show a strong association between childhood adversity, such as neglect or physical abuse, and suicide in adulthood.
The current study is designed to investigate the potential for ACE measures to predict risk of SH repetition over time. The study will also explore psychological factors that may explain the relationship between ACE and suicide, such as defeat, entrapment and emotion regulation, all of which are factors independently associated with suicidal behaviour (e.g. O’Connor & Nock, 2014). History of SH is a strong predictor of suicide and the current study will focus on individuals hospitalised following SH.Participants who have presented to hospital following an episode of self-harm will be asked to complete a range of psychological and clinical measures subsequent to their admission to hospital (Time 1). Participants’ medical records will be accessed 6, 12 and 60 months after their initial admission (Time 2, 3 and 4) to determine whether they have been hospitalised again for self-harm. Approximately 264 patients will be recruited across two Glasgow hospitals: Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
16/WS/0014
Date of REC Opinion
1 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion