Intergenerational Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence as Familial Risk Factors for Lifetime Attempted Suicide Among Battered Women

• NCJ Number: 210068
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 17 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2002 Pages: 1027-1045
• Author(s): Deborah Fish Ragin; Maura Pilotti; Lorraine Madry; Robert E. Sage; Lewis E. Bingham; Beny J. Primm
• Date Published: October 2002
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the impact of intergenerational substance abuse and exposure to domestic violence on the lifetime attempted-suicide histories of adult, minority, battered women residing in a domestic violence shelter in New York City.

Abstract

Residents of the shelter were eligible for the study if they were admitted to the shelter during the 18 months of data collection from February 1999 through June 2000, had stayed in the shelter at least 24 hours, had experienced a recent episode of intimate partner abuse, and had no language barrier that impeded communication with researchers. A total of 122 of the eligible residents participated in the study. Participants were interviewed within 1 month of their arrival at the facility. The interview contained questions on substance abuse history, familial substance abuse history, familial domestic violence, attempted suicide, and exposure to other forms of violence at any point in their lives. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to measure depression. The analyses first identified variables associated with life suicide attempts and then examined these variables to determine those that independently best predicted a history of lifetime attempted suicide. The findings show that battered women with a history of suicide attempts (n=45) were more likely to report substance abuse by both first-degree (fathers) and second-degree relatives than were women without attempted-suicide histories (n=77). Those who had attempted suicide were also more likely to report having witnessed the physical abuse of their mothers. These findings suggest that obtaining information about behaviors in a battered woman's extended family, notably parental substance abuse and domestic violence, would be useful in developing a more thorough therapeutic service plan that addresses the full scope of mental health needs. 3 tables and 36 references