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Cited by 54Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesGrief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthDeath, Funerary Practices, and Mourning

Attitudes to suicide following the suicide of a friend or relative: a qualitative study of the views of 429 young bereaved adults in the UK

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Pitman, Alexandra, Nesse, Hedvig, Morant, Nicola, Azorina, Valeriya, Stevenson, Fiona, King, Michael, Osborn, David·2017·BMC Psychiatry
DOI 10.1186/s12888-017-1560-3PMC PMC5729247
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: People bereaved by suicide are at increased risk of suicide attempt and suicide, but explanations for these associations remain theoretical. It is possible that the experience of suicide bereavement modifies personal attitudes towards suicide, but the nature of these changes remains unexplored. There is a need to understand personal attitudes to suicide following suicide bereavement, as this may inform the development of suicide prevention interventions. Our aim was to explore the attitudes of young adults bereaved by suicide towards their own likelihood of dying by suicide. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of staff and students aged 18-40 at 37 United Kingdom (UK) higher educational institutions in 2010. Ethical approval was granted by the UCL Research Ethics Committee. Qualitative responses to a question probing attitudes to own suicide were provided by 429 respondents who had experienced bereavement by the suicide of a close contact. We identified key themes in this dataset using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Analysis identified four main themes: suicide as a more tangible option (whether feared or not); identification with the deceased and awareness of shared vulnerabilities to suicide; personal determination to avoid suicide; and beliefs regarding safeguards against suicide. These themes reflected a broad split in participants' views regarding own likelihood of dying by suicide, influenced by the degree to which own suicide was feared and the extent to which they felt in control of determining a suicide death. Whilst the majority described an aversion to the idea of attempting suicide themselves, largely through an awareness of the impact on others, a minority described their experiences as having normalised suicide as a personal option. CONCLUSIONS: The views of a sample of UK-based adults bereaved by suicide suggest that exposure to the suicide of a close friend or relative can influence attitudes to suicide in ways that could influence own risk of suicide attempt. The normalising attitudes to suicide observed in a minority of respondents could contribute to the observed association between suicide bereavement and suicide attempt.

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  • This does nothing to mitigate the potential for hopelessness and suicide suggestion, both influences on suicide risk.

    “This does nothing to mitigate the potential for hopelessness and suicide suggestion [45]—both influences on suicide risk.”

    From Support Needs and Experiences of People Bereaved by Suicide: Qualitative Findings from a Cross-Sectional British Study of Bereaved Young Adults (2018) · cites this paper as [45]

    The Background (page unavailable) describes suicide suggestion as a possible pathway from exposure to another person's suicide to suicidal thoughts or attempts. It does not identify hopelessness as an influence on suicide risk. The opening assertion about what 'this' fails to mitigate depends on the citing document's context, not on a finding established by this source. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Authors
Pitman, A., Nesse, H., Morant, N., Azorina, V., Stevenson, F., King, M., & Osborn, D.
Affiliations
  • St Pancras Hospital (GB)
  • University College London (GB)
  • The Royal Free Hospital (GB)
Corresponding author
Pitman, Alexandra
ORCID
Venue
BMC Psychiatry
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-12
Volume
17
Issue
1
Pages
400-400
ISSN
1471-244X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12888-017-1560-3
PMC
PMC5729247
OpenAlex
W2771368448
Cited by
54
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5
FWCI
5.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • BMC Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Medical Research Council (G0802441)
  • Guarantors of Brain
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
Keywords
suicide bereavement, young adults, suicide prevention, university students
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Attitude to Death, Bereavement, Cross-Sectional Studies, Family, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Suicide, Friends, Qualitative Research, Young Adult

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