Laut einer Studie mit 73.833 australischen Kindern erlebten 73 % der Jugendlichen mit nachweislich Selbstverletzung oder Selbstmordgedanken in mindestens einer Entwicklungsphase ein hohes Maß an negativen Kindheitserfahrungen

Hi r/science – sharing this study led by our researcher, Dr Oliver Watkeys. Here’s a link to the full study: [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X25004422?via%3Dihub](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X25004422?via%3Dihub)

The study followed 73,833 children across NSW, Australia, from their prenatal period through to adulthood to reveal how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to risks of teen self-harm or suicide. Those with the highest risk of self-harm or suicide in adolescence sustained cumulative ACEs throughout their early and middle childhood.

Rather than treating childhood adversity as a single experience, the researchers used data from multiple sources across key periods of child and adolescent development to map six distinct trajectories of exposure to ACEs in the general population.

These sources included administrative records spanning health, welfare, education, child protection and police systems, which highlighted how signs of risk are spread across government agencies, often long before a young person presents to mental health services, indicating a need for suicide prevention efforts to start earlier in life.