Exploring Childhood Challenges and Male Suicide Risk: Findings From a Global Survey

In this study, we address the limited understanding of the potential relationship between male suicide risk and challenges in childhood. To this end, 2660 men completed a global cross-sectional survey examining associations between suicidal history and measures of childhood traumas, parental styles, and bullying. Results from multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that higher levels of bullying, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and maternal over-control increased the odds of being in the suicidal ideation group compared to having no suicidal history. Bullying, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, maternal overcontrol, and sexual abuse increased the odds of being in the suicide attempt group compared to having no suicidal history. Bullying, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse, increased the odds of suicide attempt group membership compared to suicidal ideation. Further research is required to confirm the significance of these findings, including understanding how childhood challenges interact to compound some men’s risk and the psychological pathways by which traumas in childhood correlate to an elevated suicide risk over the life course.