Adverse childhood experiences among women prisoners: Relationships to suicide attempts and drug abuse

Abstract

Background:

Women prisoners are known to suffer from an accumulation of factors known to increase the risk for several major health problems. This study examines the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and the relationship between such experiences and suicide attempts and drug use among incarcerated women in Norway.

Methods:

A total of 141 women inmates (75% of all eligible) were interviewed using a structured interview guide covering information on demographics and a range of ACE related to abuse and neglect, and household dysfunction. The main outcome variables were attempted suicide and adult drug abuse.

Results:

Emotional, physical and sexual abuse during childhood was experienced by 39%, 36% and 19%, respectively, and emotional and physical neglect by 31% and 33%, respectively. Looking at the full range of ACE, 17% reported having experienced none, while 34% reported having experienced more than five ACEs. After controlling for age, immigrant background and marital status, the number of ACEs significantly increased the risk of attempted suicide and current drug abuse.

Conclusion:

The associations observed between early life trauma and later health risk behaviour indicate the need for early prevention. The findings also emphasize the important role of prison health services in secondary prevention among women inmates.

Keywords

Women inmates childhood adversity suicide drug use

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bendixen

Muus

K. M.

Schei

(1994). The impact of child sexual abuse: A study of a random sample of Norwegian students. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18, 837–847.

Browne

Miller

Maguin

(1999). Prevalence and severity of lifetime physical and sexual victimization among incarcerated women. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 22, 301–322.

Clements-Nolle

Wolden

Bargmann-Losche

(2009). Childhood trauma and risk for past and future suicide attempts among women in prison. Women’s Health Issues, 19, 185–192.

Dube

S. R.

Anda

R. F.

Felitti

V. J.

Chapman

D. P.

Williamson

D. F.

Giles

W. H.

(2001). Childhood abuse, household dysfunction, and the risk of attempted suicide throughout the life span. Findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 286, 3089–3096.

Dube

S. R.

Cook

M. L.

Edwards

V. J.

(2010). Health-related outcomes of adverse childhood experiences in Texas, 2002. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7, 1–9.

Dube

S. R.

Felitti

V. J.

Dong

Chapman

D. P.

Giles

W. H.

Anda

R. F.

(2003). Childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction and the risk of illicit drug use: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. Pediatrics, 111, 564–572.

Edwards

V. J.

Holden

G. W.

Felitti

V. J.

Anda

R. F.

(2003). Relationship between multiple forms of childhood maltreatment and adult mental health in community respondents: Results from the adverse childhood experiences study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1453–1460.

Fazel

Baillargeon

(2011). The health of prisoners. The Lancet, 377, 956–965.

Fazel

Bains

Doll

(2006). Substance abuse and dependence in prisoners: A systematic review. Addiction, 101, 181–191.

10.

Fazel

Cartwright

Norman-Nott

Hawton

(2008). Suicide in prisoners: A systematic review of risk factors. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 69, 1721–1731.

11.

Felitti

V. J.

Anda

R. F.

Nordenberg

Williamson

D. F.

Spitz

A. M.

Edwards

. (1998). The relationship of adult health status to childhood abuse and household dysfunction: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245–258.

12.

Glaser

J. B.

Greifinger

R. B.

(1993). Correctional health care: a public health opportunity. Annals of Internal Medicine, 118, 139–145.

13.

Hardt

Rutter

(2004). Validity of adult retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences: Review of the evidence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 260–273.

14.

Kessler

R.C.

McLaughlin

K.A.

Green

J.G.

Gruber

M.J.

Sampson

N.A.

Zaslavsky

A.M.

… Williams

D.R.

(2010). Childhood adversity and adult psychopathology in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. British Journal of Psychiatry, 197, 378–385.

15.

Kjelsberg

Friestad

(2008). Social adversities in first-time and repeat prisoners. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 54, 514–526.

16.

Konrad

Daigle

M. S.

Daniel

A. E.

Dear

G. E.

Frottier

Hayes

L. M.

. (2007). Preventing suicide in prisons, Part I. Crisis, 28, 113–121.

17.

Messina

Grella

(2006). Childhood trauma and women’s health outcomes in a California prison population. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1842–1848.

18.

Mossige

Huang

(2010). Omfanget av seksuelle krenkelser og overgrep i en norsk ungdomsbefolkning. Norsk epidemiologi, 20, 53–62.

19.

Mossige

Stefansen

(2007). Vold og overgrep mot barn og unge (Rep. No. 20). Oslo: Norsk institutt for forskning om oppvekst, velferd og aldring.

20.

Nilsson

(2003). Living conditions, social exclusion and recidivism among prison inmates. Journal of Scandinavian studies in criminology and crime prevention, 4, 57–83.

21.

Restum

Z. G.

(2005). Public health implications of substandard correctional health care. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 1689–1691.

22.

Roberts

O’Connor

Dunn

Golding

, & The ALSPAC Study Team (2004). The effects of child sexual abuse in later family life; Mental health, parenting and adjustment of offspring. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28, 525–545.

23.

Skardhamar

(2003). Inmates’ social background and living conditions. Journal of Scandinavian studies in criminology and crime prevention, 4, 39–56.

24.

Tambs

(1994). Undersøkelse av seksuelle overgrep mot barn Oslo: Statens institutt for folkehelse.

25.

Tye

C. S.

Mullen

P. E.

(2006). Mental disorders in female prisoners. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 266–271.

26.

van den Bergh

B. J.

Gatherer

Fraser

Moller

(2011). Imprisonment and women’s health: Concerns about gender sensitivity, human rights and public health. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89, 689–694.

27.

Williams

L. M.

(1994). Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 1167–1176.

28.

Wolff

Shi

Siegel

J. A.

(2009). Patterns of victimization among male and female inmates: Evidence of an enduring legacy. Violence and Victims, 24, 469–484.

29.

World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (2009). Women’s health in prison: correcting gender inequity in prison health. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe.