What are the physical and psychological health effects of suicide bereavement on family members? An observational and interview mixed-methods study in Ireland

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dc.contributor.authorSpillane, Ailbhe
dc.contributor.authorMatvienko-Sikar, Karen
dc.contributor.authorLarkin, Celine
dc.contributor.authorCorcoran, Paul
dc.contributor.authorArensman, Ella
dc.contributor.funderHealth Service Executive
dc.contributor.funderHealth Research Board
dc.date.accessioned2018-02-20T13:24:13Z
dc.date.available2018-02-20T13:24:13Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractObjectives: Research focussing on the impact of suicide bereavement on family members’ physical and psychological health is scarce. The aim of this study was to examine how family members have been physically and psychologically affected following suicide bereavement. A secondary objective of the study was to describe the needs of family members bereaved by suicide. Design: A mixed-methods study was conducted, using qualitative semistructured interviews and additional quantitative self-report measures of depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21). Setting: Consecutive suicide cases and next-of-kin were identified by examining coroner’s records in Cork City and County, Ireland from October 2014 to May 2016. Participants: Eighteen family members bereaved by suicide took part in a qualitative interview. They were recruited from the Suicide Support and Information System: A Case-Control Study (SSIS-ACE), where family members bereaved by suicide (n=33) completed structured measures of their well-being. Results: Qualitative findings indicated three superordinate themes in relation to experiences following suicide bereavement: (1) co-occurrence of grief and health reactions; (2) disparity in supports after suicide and (3) reconstructing life after deceased’s suicide. Initial feelings of guilt, blame, shame and anger often manifested in enduring physical, psychological and psychosomatic difficulties. Support needs were diverse and were often related to the availability or absence of informal support by family or friends. Quantitative results indicated that the proportion of respondents above the DASS-21 cut-offs respectively were 24% for depression, 18% for anxiety and 27% for stress. Conclusions: Healthcare professionals’ awareness of the adverse physical and psychosomatic health difficulties experienced by family members bereaved by suicide is essential. Proactively facilitating support for this group could help to reduce the negative health sequelae. The effects of suicide bereavement are wide-ranging, including high levels of stress, depression, anxiety and physical health difficulties.en
dc.description.sponsorshipHealth Research Board (HRA-2013- PHR-438; SPHeRE Programme SPHeRE/2013/1); Health Service Executive (National Office for Suicide Prevention)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleide019472
dc.identifier.citationSpillane, A., Matvienko-Sikar, K., Larkin, C., Corcoran, P. and Arensman, E. (2018) 'What are the physical and psychological health effects of suicide bereavement on family members? An observational and interview mixed-methods study in Ireland', BMJ Open, 8(1), e019472 (12pp). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019472en
dc.identifier.doi10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019472
dc.identifier.endpage12
dc.identifier.issn2044-6055
dc.identifier.issued1
dc.identifier.journaltitleBMJ Openen
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/5510
dc.identifier.volume8
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherBMJ Publishing Groupen
dc.relation.urihttp://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/1/e019472
dc.rights© 2018, the Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectFamilyen
dc.subjectSuicideen
dc.subjectGriefen
dc.subjectBereavementen
dc.titleWhat are the physical and psychological health effects of suicide bereavement on family members? An observational and interview mixed-methods study in Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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