Identifying Witnessed Suicides in National Violent Death Reporting System Narratives

Author:

Mays Vickie M.123ORCID,Gareeb Mikaela3,Zhang Xingruo4ORCID,Nguyen Vivian3,Rosenberg Joelle5,Lin Yuri3ORCID,Arseniev-Koehler Alina367ORCID,Eliav Adam3ORCID,Foster Jacob Gates35ORCID,Baumgardner Mika23,Cochran Susan D.389ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

2. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

3. UCLA BRITE Center for Science, Research and Policy, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

4. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA

5. Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

6. Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

7. Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, CA 92093, USA

8. Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

9. Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

Abstract

There is increasing attention to suicides that occur in view of others, as these deaths can cause significant psychological impact on witnesses. This study illuminates characteristics of witnessed suicides and compares characteristics of these deaths to non-witnessed suicides. We develop a codable definition of what constitutes witnessed (vs. non-witnessed) suicide. Our data include a sample of 1200 suicide descriptions from the 2003–2017 National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). We first developed criteria to identify probable cases of witnessed suicide. The coding scheme achieved 94.5% agreement and identified approximately 10% (n = 125) of suicides as witnessed. Next, we examined differences between witnessed and non-witnessed suicides in demographics, manner of death, and social/environmental factors using bivariate Chi-squared tests, multivariate logistic regression, and ANOVA. Witnessed suicide decedents were significantly more likely than non-witnessed suicide decedents to be male, younger, and members of a sexual minority, and to have died in living spaces by means of a firearm. Two thirds of witnesses were strangers to the decedents, while 23.2% were romantic partners or ex-partners of the decedents. Our coding method offers a reliable approach to identify witnessed suicides. While witnessed suicides are relatively infrequent, these deaths have profound impact on witnesses. Articulating the features of witnessed suicides may contribute to identifying potential risk mitigation strategies.

Funder

The National Institute of Mental Health

National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Publisher

MDPI AG

Reference52 articles.

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3. Meyer, C., Irani, T., Hermes, K., and Yung, B. (2017). Explaining Suicide: Patterns, Motivations, and What Notes Reveal, Academic Press.

4. Deconstructing witnessed suicide: A portrait of those who die by suicide in front of others;Ooi;Curr. Psychol.,2020

5. Survivor-victims: Who discovers or witnesses suicide?;Andress;Psychol. Rep.,1978

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