Abstract
Abstract.Background: Despite great need, social support is limited after suicide loss, which could contribute to worse mental health outcomes including increased suicidality among suicide loss survivors. Aims: To examine the associations between perceived social support, grief difficulties, depressive symptoms, suicidality, and personal growth among 195 suicide loss survivors. Method: The associations between perceived social support, grief difficulties, depressive symptoms, suicidality, and personal growth were tested using linear regression modeling. Results: In controlled models, more perceived social support was significantly associated with decreased grief difficulties, depressive symptoms, and suicidality, as well as with increased personal growth. Limitations: Participants were mostly Caucasian women who participated in a cross-sectional online survey. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that programs to increase social support after suicide loss may be an important aspect of suicide postvention.
References
2015). Bereavement after suicide: Disentangling clues to better help bereaved adolescents. Crisis, 36(5), 299–303. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000339
(2013). Psychometric properties of the CES-D-10 in a psychiatric sample. Assessment, 20(4), 429–436. 10.1177/1073191113481998
(2017). Domains of social support that predict bereavement distress following homicide loss. Omega, 75(1), 3–25. 10.1177/0030222815612282
(2012).
(Prospective risk factor for complicated grief: A review of the empirical literature. In M. StroebeH. SchutJ. van den BoutEds., Complicated Grief: Scientific Foundations for Health Care Professionals (pp. 145–161). London, UK: Routledge.2005). Do suicide survivors suffer social stigma: A review of the literature. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 41(1), 14–21.
(1992). The role of social supports in the bereavement process of surviving spouses of suicide and natural deaths. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 22(1), 107–124.
(2016). Social constraints, loss-related factors, depression, and posttraumatic stress in a treatment-seeking suicide bereaved sample. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 8(6), 657–660. 10.1037/tra0000128
(2018). Surviving families of military suicide loss: Exploring postvention peer support. Death Studies, 42(3), 143–154. 10.1080/07481187.2017.1370789
(2001). Development and validation of the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist. Death Studies, 25(1), 1–32. 10.1080/07481180125831
(2012). Brief Measure for Screening Complicated Grief: reliability and discriminant validity. PLoS ONE, 7(2). 10.1371/journal.pone.0031209
(2015). Social constraints are associated with negative psychological and physical adjustment in bereavement. Applied Psychology. Health and Well-Being, 7(2), 129–148. 10.1111/aphw.12041
(2013). Social support as a protective factor in suicide: Findings from two nationally representative samples. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(2), 540–545. 10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.033
(2015). A brief form of the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (F-SozU) was developed, validated, and standardized. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(5), 551–562. 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.11.003
(2015). Stress-related growth among suicide survivors: The role of interpersonal and cognitive factors. Archives of Suicide Research, 19(3), 305–320. 10.1080/13811118.2014.957452
(2018). What determines supportive behaviors following bereavement? A systematic review and call to action. Death Studies, 42(2), 104–114. 10.1080/07481187.2017.1329760
(2017). Prevalence of prolonged grief disorder in adult bereavement: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 212, 138–149. 10.1016/j.jad.2017.01.030
(2018). Perceived suicide stigma, secrecy about suicide loss and mental health outcomes. Death Studies. Advance online publication. 10.1080/07481187.2018.1539052
(2014). Effects of suicide bereavement on mental health and suicide risk. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(1), 86–94. 10.1016/S2215-0366(14)70224-X
(2016). Bereavement by suicide as a risk factor for suicide attempt: A cross-sectional national UK-wide study of 3432 young bereaved adults. BMJ Open, 6(1), e009948. 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009948
(2017). Support received after bereavement by suicide and other sudden deaths: A cross-sectional UK study of 3432 young bereaved adults. BMJ Open, 7(5), e014487. 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014487
(2018). Support needs and experiences of people bereaved by suicide: Qualitative findings from a cross-sectional British study of bereaved young adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(4). 10.3390/ijerph15040666
(2013). Bereavement after the suicide of a significant other. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(3), 256–263. 10.4103/0019-5545.117145
(2015). Complicated grief. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(2), 153–160. 10.1056/NEJMcp1315618
(2006). Screening for complicated grief among Project Liberty service recipients 18 months after September 11, 2001. Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.), 57(9), 1291–1297. 10.1176/ps.2006.57.9.1291
(2011). Complicated grief and related bereavement issues for DSM-5. Depression and Anxiety, 28(2), 103–117. 10.1002/da.20780
(1984). Toward a theory of social support: Closing conceptual gaps. Journal of Social Issues, 40(4), 11–36. 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1984.tb01105.x
(2016). Impact of social support on symptoms of depression and loneliness in survivors bereaved by suicide. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 30(5), 602–606. 10.1016/j.apnu.2016.02.001
(2008). Suicide and stigma: A review of the literature and personal reflections. Academic Psychiatry, 32(2), 136–142. 10.1176/appi.ap.32.2.136
(2008). Suicide survivors' mental health and grief reactions: A systematic review of controlled studies. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38(1), 13–29. 10.1521/suli.2008.38.1.13
(2018). Bereavement Challenges and Their Relationship to Physical and Psychological Adjustment to Loss. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 21(4), 479–488. 10.1089/jpm.2017.0386
(2014). The suicidal ideation attributes scale (SIDAS): Community-based validation study of a new scale for the measurement of suicidal ideation. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 44(4), 408–419. 10.1111/sltb.12084
(