Suicidal Behavior and Sexual/Physical Abuse Among Street Youth

775 street youth, 12-19-years old, were recruited by street outreach staff in Denver, New York City, & San Francisco in 1992 & 1993 & interviewed. Cross-sectional, retrospective data were analyzed to examine the relationship between suicide attempts & antecedent home life variables. Logistic regression was used to identify factors predicting suicide attempts. 48% of the females & 27% of the males had attempted suicide. Among females, 70% reported sexual abuse & 35% reported physical abuse. Among males, 25% reported sexual abuse & 35% reported physical abuse. Sexual & physical abuse before leaving home were independent predictors of suicide attempts for males & females.