Childhood Trauma as a Correlative Factor of Suicidal Behavior – via Aggression Traits. Similar Results in an Italian and in a French Sample

The hypothesis tested in this study was the existence of an association between childhood trauma & aggression in 2 distinct samples of Italian & French adult suicide attempters. 396 French suicide attempters, 103 Italian suicide attempters, & 88 Italian psychiatric comparison subjects were studied. When compared with the comparison group, Italian suicide attempters had significantly higher scores on the Brown-Goodwin Assessment for Lifetime History of Aggression scale & reported higher scores on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Significant correlations between childhood trauma & aggression were found in both groups of suicide attempters. (36 refs.)