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Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: One of the main obstacles in studying suicide risk factors is the difference between cases in which the individual died by suicide and those in which the individual engaged in suicidal behavior. A promising strategy that overcomes this obstacle is the study of survivors of serious suicid...

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Autores principales: Gvion, Yari, Levi-Belz, Yossi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845877/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29563886
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00056
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author Gvion, Yari
Levi-Belz, Yossi
author_facet Gvion, Yari
Levi-Belz, Yossi
author_sort Gvion, Yari
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: One of the main obstacles in studying suicide risk factors is the difference between cases in which the individual died by suicide and those in which the individual engaged in suicidal behavior. A promising strategy that overcomes this obstacle is the study of survivors of serious suicide attempt (SSA), i.e., an attempt that would have been lethal had it not been for the provision of rapid and effective emergency treatment. Serious suicide attempters are epidemiologically very much like those who died by suicide, and thus may serve as valid proxies for studying suicides. This paper aims to define the specific risk factors for SSAs by conducting a qualitative data synthesis of existing studies. METHODS: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we conducted a systematic search of the literature in PubMed, ProQuest, and Psychlit electronic research-literature databases. Search terms were “serious” “OR” “near lethal,” combined with the Boolean “AND” operator with “suicide*.” In addition, we performed a manual search on Google Scholar for further studies not yet identified. RESULTS: The preliminary search identified 683 citations. A total of 39 research reports that met the predefined criteria were analyzed. Mental pain, communication difficulties, decision-making impulsivity, and aggression, as well as several demographic variables, were found to be major risk factors for SSAs. LIMITATIONS: We found a variability of definitions for SSA that hamper the ability to draw a model for the risk factors and processes that facilitate it. Moreover, the role of suicide intent and planning in SSA is still unclear. Further studies should aim to clarify and refine the concepts and measures of SSA, thereby enabling more specific and concrete modeling of the psychological element in its formation. CONCLUSION: SSA is a distinguishable phenomenon that needs to be addressed specifically within the scope of suicidal behavior. Interpersonal problems, as well as impulsivity and aggression, seem to facilitate SSA when mental pain serves as a secondary factor. Healthcare professionals should be aware of SSA, and familiar with its specific risk factors. Moreover, psychological and suicidal risk assessment should include a designated evaluation of these risk factors as part of intervention and prevention models for SSA.
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spelling pubmed-58458772018-03-21 Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors Gvion, Yari Levi-Belz, Yossi Front Psychiatry Psychiatry BACKGROUND: One of the main obstacles in studying suicide risk factors is the difference between cases in which the individual died by suicide and those in which the individual engaged in suicidal behavior. A promising strategy that overcomes this obstacle is the study of survivors of serious suicide attempt (SSA), i.e., an attempt that would have been lethal had it not been for the provision of rapid and effective emergency treatment. Serious suicide attempters are epidemiologically very much like those who died by suicide, and thus may serve as valid proxies for studying suicides. This paper aims to define the specific risk factors for SSAs by conducting a qualitative data synthesis of existing studies. METHODS: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we conducted a systematic search of the literature in PubMed, ProQuest, and Psychlit electronic research-literature databases. Search terms were “serious” “OR” “near lethal,” combined with the Boolean “AND” operator with “suicide*.” In addition, we performed a manual search on Google Scholar for further studies not yet identified. RESULTS: The preliminary search identified 683 citations. A total of 39 research reports that met the predefined criteria were analyzed. Mental pain, communication difficulties, decision-making impulsivity, and aggression, as well as several demographic variables, were found to be major risk factors for SSAs. LIMITATIONS: We found a variability of definitions for SSA that hamper the ability to draw a model for the risk factors and processes that facilitate it. Moreover, the role of suicide intent and planning in SSA is still unclear. Further studies should aim to clarify and refine the concepts and measures of SSA, thereby enabling more specific and concrete modeling of the psychological element in its formation. CONCLUSION: SSA is a distinguishable phenomenon that needs to be addressed specifically within the scope of suicidal behavior. Interpersonal problems, as well as impulsivity and aggression, seem to facilitate SSA when mental pain serves as a secondary factor. Healthcare professionals should be aware of SSA, and familiar with its specific risk factors. Moreover, psychological and suicidal risk assessment should include a designated evaluation of these risk factors as part of intervention and prevention models for SSA. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-03-07 /pmc/articles/PMC5845877/ /pubmed/29563886 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00056 Text en Copyright © 2018 Gvion and Levi-Belz. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Gvion, Yari
Levi-Belz, Yossi
Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors
title Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors
title_full Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors
title_fullStr Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors
title_full_unstemmed Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors
title_short Serious Suicide Attempts: Systematic Review of Psychological Risk Factors
title_sort serious suicide attempts: systematic review of psychological risk factors
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845877/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29563886
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00056
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