| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Older adult suicide
— perceptions of precipitants and protective factors | | Author(s) | Bryan D Stice, Silvia Sara Canetto |
| Journal title | Clinical Gerontologist, vol 31, no 4, 2008 |
| Publisher | The Haworth Press, Inc., 2008 |
| Pages | pp 4-30 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Suicide ; Attitude ; Sociology, Social Science ; Social surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Suicide is culturally patterned. A cultural perspective, however, is rarely used to examine suicidal behaviour among dominant groups in industrialised countries. This study explored the culture of suicide in the US Mountain West region. Specifically, it examined the perceived precipitants and protectors of older adult suicide in a Mountain West community with higher than national average rates of older adult suicide, particularly among males of European-American descent. Respondents read a fictional local obituary of an older male or older female who died by suicide. They indicated what they believed were the two most likely precipitants, the number of suicides due to those precipitants, and the three most effective protective factors. Physical illness and death of a first-degree relative were ranked as the most likely suicide precipitants. Illness was thought to be a more likely precipitant than interpersonal or impersonal problems. Family, friends, religious beliefs, and counselling were believed to be the most effective suicide protectors. These findings add to past evidence of a belief, among European Americans, that physical illness is a key influence in older adult suicide. This belief may act as a cultural script for older adults of European-American descent, particularly males, given the association between physical integrity and dominant masculinity. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-091203213 A |
| Classmark | EV: DP: S: 3F: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|