A sex-disaggregated analysis of how emotional violence relates to suicide ideation in low- and middle-income countries

Child maltreatment has been widely shown to contribute to poor mental health outcomes later in life, including suicide ideation, attempts, and completions. In recent years, research has increasingly focused on examining the relationship between one type of child maltreatment — emotional violence — and suicidal behaviors. However, the growing body of empirical evidence supporting these associations has been mostly limited to high-income contexts.

This study examines how exposure to emotional violence is associated with suicide ideation in childhood and adolescence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and whether this association differs by sex. Nationally representative samples of 13–24 year-old males and females from the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys in Tanzania (conducted in 2009), Kenya (2010), and Haiti (2012) were used.

Explore the full article: A sex-disaggregated analysis of how emotional violence relates to suicide ideation in low- and middle-income countries.