The influence of feelings of shame originating from marital breakdown on suicidality is examined. The role of mental health problems as probable mediating factors is also considered. Internalized shame, state (related to separation) shame, and mental health problems were significantly correlated with the score for suicidality during separation in…

This paper examines the relation of marital separation and divorce to suicide. Those persons seriously discussing separation, not actually separated, tended to be less frequently suicidal than long-term separated/divorced. The authors believe that the findings in regard to vacillation and interspouse aggression are especially interesting and merit…

Presents two cases chosen to draw attention to marital and developmental dynamics of suicidal behavior. Both case vignettes are based on individual interviews with suicidal persons and their spouses during the suicidal person's psychiatric hospitalization, and both include observations of the marital interaction. Case vignettes are followed by…

Tests relationships between indicators of domestic integration, focusing on divorce and suicide with data from the United States from 1933 to 1970. For the whole period, an increase in the divorce rate was associated with an increase in the suicide rate independent of trends in unemployment and birth. (Author/HLM)

Examined lifetime prevalence of suicide ideation and attempts in 1,425 Hispanics and 1,309 non-Hispanic Whites. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, fewer Hispanics reported ideation or attempts. More women of both ethnic groups reported suicide attempts than did men. Individuals with psychiatric disorder diagnoses were more likely to report suicide…

Severly depressed children were identified who were also self-abusive and/or suicidal. Case study revealed fragmented, pathological homes, where the children's affect disorders were symptomatic of acute family breakdown, marital disharmony, and violence, both verbal and physical. Follow-up on children revealed that no child had committed suicide.…

Few studies have examined the relationship between life events, suicide attempts, and personality disorders (PDs), in spite of the strong associations between PDs and suicidal behavior, and the poor coping strategies often exhibited by these individuals. The authors examined whether participants with PDs who attempted suicide during the first 3…

Single suicides and married suicides with dependent children were compared to similar groups in the general population. Married people with dependent children experienced the lowest average suicide rate, but had a larger mean number of children than the population as a whole. (Author)

Studying the characteristics of attempted suicide is helpful in knowing the background of some completed suicides and improving prevention or intervention strategies. This current study analyzed data of 74 suicide attempters and 92 accident injured patients admitted to 6 hospital emergency rooms in an area of Northeastern China and found both…

Men and women were randomly chosen from courthouse divorce files. After initial contact by mail and by phone, those who agreed were mailed questionnaires developed to assess adjustment to divorce and to obtain information about the nature of divorce. Of those sent questionnaires, 44% completed and returned the assessment; the total sample…

Parental divorce is associated with problematic offspring adjustment, but the relation may be due to shared genetic or environmental factors. One way to test for these confounds is to study offspring of twins discordant for divorce. The current analyses used this design to separate the mechanisms responsible for the association between parental…

Groups of married couples (N=4) were studied using a measure of their marital communication habits and an intensive personal interview. Analysis of the data revealed that the quality of interpersonal communication between spouses significantly deteriorated across the groups as the degree of suicidal behavior increased. (Author)

This research was conducted at a Canadian suicide prevention center. The object of the study was to find useful information concerning high school students in the perspective of developing a suicide prevention program in the schools. All 23 local high schools contributed to this study on suicidal ideation and behavior. Subjects (N=2,546) responded…

Examined the triggering effect of maritally related suicide stories in the mass media on monthly suicide rates of those involved in divorce or in marital distress. Support was found for this effect, independent of season and of changes in unemployment, but the unemployment rate was more closely associated with suicide than suicide stories in the…