OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study were to examine the prevalence of family dysfunction childhood adversities (CAs) by sex in a nationally representative sample and to investigate the sex-specific association of CAs with lifetime suicide attempts. METHODS: Data were drawn from the 2005, 2010, and 2017 nationally representative cross-sectional French Health Barometer surveys (n = 47,105) to examine exposure to three types of CAs and their association with lifetime suicide attempts. Logistic regressions were performed to identify associations of every exposure combination with the odds of suicide attempts overall, and stratified by gender. RESULTS: Overall, 43.9 % of adults reported exposure to at least one type of CA: 16.4 % parental separation, 22.4 % parental illness or death, and 22.5 % parental discord. Women reported exposure to CAs more frequently (54.1 %) than did men (45.9 %), (χ(2) = 132,00, df = 1, p