Associations Among Recent Partner Violence, Current Suicidal Ideation, and Future Risk of Attempting Suicide Among Incarcerated Women
Additional Funding Sources
The funding for this project was supported or partially supported by Idaho State University Office of the Provost Undergraduate Research funds.
Abstract
Incarcerated women are nine times more likely to commit suicide than females in the general, non-institutionalized population (Fazel, Ramesh, & Hawton, 2017) and are more likely to complete suicide than their incarcerated male counterparts (World Health Organization, 2007). Incarcerated women also report high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV, Lynch, Fritch & Heath, 2012). The objective of the current study was to conduct a secondary analysis to examine the extent to which recent partner violence is associated with current thoughts of suicide as well as the extent to which partner violence is associated with future risk of attempting suicide in a sample of women in prison. The data used for this project comes from a treatment outcome study completed with women in prison. Participants were 224 incarcerated women ages 19-60 (M=34, SD=9.39). First, 85% of participants reported exposure to IPV in the year prior to incarceration. In addition, almost half (48.6%) of participants reported having attempted suicide in the past with 25% having attempted four or more times. At the time of the interview, 20% indicated a risk of attempting in the next three months. A logistic regression was used to test our hypothesis. We found that total intimate partner violence was not a significant predictor of future risk of attempting suicide nor current suicidal ideation. However, threats of serious violence were found to be a significant predictor of suicidal ideation. Furthermore, it is important to note that participants may have under-reported immediate risk of attempting suicide due to the possibility of being placed in segregation. Continued research examining associations between violence exposure and suicide risk is important to inform prevention efforts as well as addressing the treatment needs of incarcerated women.
Associations Among Recent Partner Violence, Current Suicidal Ideation, and Future Risk of Attempting Suicide Among Incarcerated Women
Incarcerated women are nine times more likely to commit suicide than females in the general, non-institutionalized population (Fazel, Ramesh, & Hawton, 2017) and are more likely to complete suicide than their incarcerated male counterparts (World Health Organization, 2007). Incarcerated women also report high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV, Lynch, Fritch & Heath, 2012). The objective of the current study was to conduct a secondary analysis to examine the extent to which recent partner violence is associated with current thoughts of suicide as well as the extent to which partner violence is associated with future risk of attempting suicide in a sample of women in prison. The data used for this project comes from a treatment outcome study completed with women in prison. Participants were 224 incarcerated women ages 19-60 (M=34, SD=9.39). First, 85% of participants reported exposure to IPV in the year prior to incarceration. In addition, almost half (48.6%) of participants reported having attempted suicide in the past with 25% having attempted four or more times. At the time of the interview, 20% indicated a risk of attempting in the next three months. A logistic regression was used to test our hypothesis. We found that total intimate partner violence was not a significant predictor of future risk of attempting suicide nor current suicidal ideation. However, threats of serious violence were found to be a significant predictor of suicidal ideation. Furthermore, it is important to note that participants may have under-reported immediate risk of attempting suicide due to the possibility of being placed in segregation. Continued research examining associations between violence exposure and suicide risk is important to inform prevention efforts as well as addressing the treatment needs of incarcerated women.
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