Kõlves / Sisask / Värnik Advancing Suicide Research

2021
ISBN: 978-1-61676-559-0
Verlag: Hogrefe Publishing
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 310 Seiten

Contribute to suicide prevention by using appropriate research methods!
This is a one-stop book for anyone who wants an overview of the research approaches and issues concerning suicide. Leading researchers provide a comprehensive toolbox of the current best practices in suicide research, showing you how to conduct high-quality research using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods in suicide-prevention from a public health perspective. Other aspects that are crucial to effective suicide research are also presented, including the proper use of epidemiological measures and study designs, definitional issues, historical background, and ethical aspects.

The clearly written chapters include both theoretical and practical information along with specific examples from different areas of suicide research and prevention, and also explore essential topics such as psychological autopsies, health economics, and technological advances. This volume is ideal for researchers, students, and academics interested in suicide research, as well as policy makers, clinicians, and other practitioners.

Zielgruppe

Mental health professionals, epidemiologists, social policy makers, researchers, and students.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kõlves, Kairi

Sisask, Merike

Värnik, Peeter

Värnik, Airi

De Leo, Diego

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizinische Fachgebiete Psychiatrie, Sozialpsychiatrie, Suchttherapie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Forschungsmethodik, Wissenschaftliche Ausstattung
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychotherapie / Klinische Psychologie Psychopathologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents, Foreword, Preface;8
2;Chapter 1. The Roots of Suicide Research: From Historical Underpinnings to Frameworks for Modern Suicide Research;14
3;Chapter 2. Definitions in Suicide Research;30
4;Chapter 3. Public Health Approach to Suicide Research;42
5;Chapter 4. Ethical Aspects of Suicide Research;52
6;Chapter 5. Measures in Suicide Research;64
7;Chapter 6. Observational Studies in Suicide Research;78
8;Chapter 7. Intervention Studies in Suicide Research;106
9;Chapter 8. Data Linkage and Studies of Suicidal Behavior;128
10;Chapter 9. The Words to Say It – Qualitative Suicide Research;142
11;Chapter 10. Mixed Methods in Suicide Research;164
12;Chapter 11. Psychological Autopsy – A Tool in Suicide Research;174
13;Chapter 12. Pilot and Feasibility Studies in Suicide Research;188
14;Chapter 13. Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in Suicide Prevention Research;204
15;Chapter 14. Evaluating Suicide Prevention Activities;238
16;Chapter 15. Applying a Health Economics Lens to Suicide Research;250
17;Chapter 16. Technology and the Future of Suicide Prevention;262
18;Contributors;290
19;Subject Index;296
20;Peer Commentaries;299

Leseproben

Chapter 1 The Roots of Suicide Research From Historical Underpinnings to Frameworks for Modern Suicide Research

Morton M. Silverman

Summary

This chapter will briefly summarize the historical contributions to our understanding of suicide and suicidal behaviors, with a focus on the last 3 centuries. Political, legal, and theological contributions have shaped our approaches to the investigation of suicidal behaviors, as have the contributions of emerging scientific methods and theories. Key themes, findings, and lines of research over the centuries will be compared, emphasizing their influences on the foundations and development of modern suicide research. Various lines of research and scientific paradigms have contributed to many aspects of the understanding and prevention of suicidal behaviors, including epidemiology, risk detection, concepts of clinical course, and approaches to treatment, evaluation, and follow-up.

Suicide and self-destructive behaviors have been chronicled as far back as the Old Testament. However, scientific approaches to understanding suicide and its many vicissitudes are a much later development. The history of suicide and suicide-related behaviors, as well as the early investigations into their etiology, pathogenesis, and expression, are briefly summarized below. The scientific study of suicide began at the end of the 19th century, but has only increased exponentially in the last 60 years. Furthermore, there has been an explosion of meta-analyses of studies that focus on all forms of suicide-related thoughts and behaviors, including the components used for identification and assessment, the efficacy of interventions, and the methodologies to study different aspects of suicide-related behaviors.

No one risk factor or set of risk factors can explain why a particular individual will die by suicide (Franklin et al., 2017). No one theory can explain the full range of self-injurious or suicidal behaviors. No one individual approach will be sufficient in preventing death by suicide. Understanding its development, expression, and resolution cannot be reduced to a small set of variables. No single scientific discipline can address the complex challenge of understanding the risk for suicidal behaviors, as suicide is the end product of a complex interplay of neurobiological, psychological, and social processes (O’Connor & Portzky, 2018b). As a behavior, suicide-related phenomena have precursors, but just as suicide-related behaviors have different manifestations and expressions, so do the precursors (Robinson & Pirkis, 2014).

Foundations of Suicide Research

Suicide research owes its foundation and approaches to many related research disciplines and associated investigations, including psychology, psychiatry, medicine, sociology, theology, social work, public health, epidemiology, traditional statistics, and implementation science. The range of research areas includes, but is not limited to, risk assessment studies (assessment and classification of suicide risk); epidemiological studies (rates, risk factors, and protective factors); intervention studies (general intervention issues and methods, practice guidelines, efficacy of universal interventions, efficacy of selective interventions, and efficacy of indicated interventions); evaluation of policies, programs, and services; biological research (neurobiology and genetics); social science (social forces and economic determinants); media studies; nomenclature and classification studies; implementation science; etc.

This brief overview of the history of suicide owes a great deal to the published works of scholars who have extensively studied and critiqued available treatises and historical documents (Anderson, 1987; Berrios & Mohanna, 1990; Goldney & Schioldann, 2002; MacDonald & Murphy, 1990; Minois, 1995/1999; Murray, 1998; Tondo, 2014; van Hooff, 2000). The interested reader is encouraged to access these texts and chapters for a much more detailed and richer understanding of the history of investigations and writings about suicide, especially in Western cultures. In this brief overview of the historical underpinnings for modern suicide research, the main focus is on the publications and philosophical perspectives that specifically relate to death by suicide before 1900 (Minois, 1995/1999).

A Brief History of Suicide in Antiquity and Western Cultures up to 1800

References to suicide are found in the Old Testament of the Bible and appear in almost every cultures’ oral and written histories. However, the purpose of this brief review is to highlight some key events that have served as the impetus for the later development of the field of suicidology, and, in particular, the development and evolution of suicide research. Hence, the selection of time periods and countries is rather eclectic.

From as far back as ancient Greece, suicide was not considered acceptable. From the 4th century BC, suicidal decedents were usually denied burial or traditional preburial preparation or cremation, and were considered to have committed a grievously antisocial act. Only those deaths by suicides in which it was possible to find a sufficient reason for self-destruction were deemed comprehensible (e.g., heroism, love-rejection, or serious or painful illness). The standard of being understandable was considered the key to assessing suicide to be a justified action (Tondo, 2014). Judgments concerning suicide changed when ancient Greek philosophers became interested in the primacy of reason over the emotions. They based their prohibition of suicide primarily based on its incomprehensibility or irrationality, and it was viewed as an aberration against the natural order to survive. Emotion-driven behaviors became a focus of attention and resulted in laws and customs imposing limits on the expression of such behaviors. To this day, the quest to remains understand and explain selfdestructive behaviors from a rational and/or emotional perspective.