Aug 29, 2014 12:19 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Childhood burns victims experience higher than usual rates of depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Adelaide University in Australia found that 42 percent of adults who have been hospitalized for a burn as a child experience had suffered some form of mental illness and 30 percent suffered depression at some stage in their lives.

They also found that long-term depression was an issue among the group, and 11 percent had attempted suicide.

"Some of these results are concerning, particularly the rates of prolonged episodes of depression and suicide attempts, which are at a level higher than you would expect to find in the general population," researcher Miranda van Hooff said in a statement. "This research demonstrates that being hospitalized for a burn during childhood places that child in an increased risk group. They require further, long-term follow up beyond the medical attention received for their burns."

For the study, researchers looked at 272 people who were hospitalized for burns during childhood from 1980 to 1990. Scalds accounted for 58 percent of the burns, while 17 percent were flame burns. The severity of the burns ranged from 1 to 80 percent of their bodies.

Van Hooff said although the burns themselves can be an important factor in these cases, many people surveyed did not directly link the burn with their current emotional wellbeing.

"We found that it's not often the burn itself that has affected people but some other lifetime traumatic event. Half of the participants stated clearly in the survey that their personal distress was not related to their burns," she added.

Previous research on the victims of Australia's Ash Wednesday bushfires has shown that many people affected by such a tragedy develop a heightened sensitivity to trauma.

"We suspect that this may be the same among the childhood burns victims, so that while the memory of the burn itself may have faded with time, they have become more susceptible to mental trauma or the negative effects of additional trauma," Van Hoof explained.

The findings were recently published in the journal Burns. 

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