Psychological autopsy studies of suicide: a systematic review

Jonathan Cavanagh · Alan J Carson · Michael Sharpe · S. M. LAWRIE

2,203 citations0/0 files storedPsychological Medicine

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Suicide and Self-Harm Studies Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The psychological autopsy method offers the most direct technique currently available for examining the relationship between particular antecedents and suicide. This systematic review aimed to examine the results of studies of suicide that used a psychological autopsy method. METHOD: A computer aided search of MEDLINE, BIDS ISI and PSYCHLIT, supplemented by reports known to the reviewers and reports identified from the reference lists of other retrieved reports. Two investigators systematically and independently examined all reports. Median proportions were determined and population attributable fractions were calculated, where possible, in cases of suicide and controls. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-four reports were identified, of which 76 met the criteria for inclusion; 54 were case series and 22 were case-control studies. The median proportion of cases with mental disorder was 91% (95 % CI 81-98%) in the case series. In the case-control studies the figure was 90% (88-95%) in the cases and 27% (14-48%) in the controls. Co-morbid mental disorder and substance abuse also preceded suicide in more cases (38%, 19-57%) than controls (6%, 0-13%). The population attributable fraction for mental disorder ranged from 47-74% in the seven studies in which it could be calculated. The effects of particular disorders and sociological variables have been insufficiently studied to draw clear conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that mental disorder was the most strongly associated variable of those that have been studied. Further studies should focus on specific disorders and psychosocial factors. Suicide prevention strategies may be most effective if focused on the treatment of mental disorders.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 2,203 citations exist upstream.

References

2013Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 1998Meta-analysis Spurious precision? Meta-analysis of observational studies

Cited by

2007No health without mental health 2009Suicide 2006Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: Diagnostic correlates and relation to suicide attempts 2013Risk factors for suicide in individuals with depression: A systematic review 2011Thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness: Construct validity and psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire.2014The psychology of suicidal behaviour 2009Mental disorders, comorbidity and suicidal behavior: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication 2008Suicidal desire and the capability for suicide: Tests of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior among adults.

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.