The authors designed a pilot study to test if exposure to child abuse or
neglect is associated with suicidal behavior in adolescence. Each of 159
adolescents who had attempted suicide was age- and sex-matched with two
comparison subjects who had been treated for medical conditions unrelated
to suicide attempts. The registry of the Massachusetts Department of Social
Services was searched for the names of the subjects and comparison
subjects. For both sexes prior contact with the Department of Social
Services was three to six times more likely for probands than for the
comparison subjects.Abstract Teaser