The diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the experience of childhood maltreatment have been independently associated with a higher risk for suicide attempts.

To investigate if PTSD diagnoses following childhood abuse are correlated with markers of suicide severity, such as the age at the first suicide attempt, the number of attempts or the suicidal intent.

We studied a sample of 726 suicide attempters. Lifetime clinical diagnoses and history of childhood abuse were registered. The association of PTSD and childhood abuse dimensions with age at first suicide attempt, number of suicide attempts and suicide intent was studied. An adjusted multinomial logistic regression was performed to ascertain if combined childhood abuse and PTSD increased the severity of the suicidal behavior.

Several types of childhood abuse (emotional, physical and sexual abuse) when combined with a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD showed an increased risk for more suicide attempts and a higher level of suicidal intent compared with the absence of any or both risk factors.

The combination of PTSD and childhood abuse should be investigated in clinical settings due to an augmented risk for more severe suicidal behavior.