Cross-sectional study of attitudes about suicide among psychiatrists in Shanghai

Abstract

BackgroundAttitudes and knowledge about suicide may influence psychiatrists’ management of suicidal patients but there has been little research about this issue in China.MethodsWe used the Scale of Public Attitudes about Suicide (SPAS) – a 47-item scale developed and validated in China – to assess knowledge about suicide and seven specific attitudes about suicide in a sample of 187 psychiatrists from six psychiatric hospitals in Shanghai. The results were compared to those of 548 urban community members (assessed in a previous study).ResultsCompared to urban community members, psychiatrists were more likely to believe that suicide can be prevented and that suicide is an important social problem but they had more stigmatizing beliefs about suicidal individuals and felt less empathy for them. The belief that suicide can be prevented was more common among female psychiatrists than male psychiatrists but male psychiatrists felt more empathy for suicidal individuals. Only 37% of the psychiatrists correctly agreed that talking about suicide-related issues with an individual would not precipitate suicidal behavior and only 41% correctly agreed that those who state that they intend to kill themselves may actually do so.ConclusionsMany psychiatrists in Shanghai harbor negative attitudes about suicidal individuals and are concerned that directly addressing the issue with patients will increase the risk of suicide. Demographic factors, educational status and work experience are associated with psychiatrists’ attitudes about suicide and, thus, need to be considered when training psychiatrists about suicide prevention.

Measurement Scales of Suicidal Ideation and Attitudes: A Systematic Review Article

“…This scale was built up of three parts. 28 Part A is composed of 73 statements about attitudes toward suicide. Part B includes 12 statements about 12 difficult scenarios.…”

“…This instrument is intended to measure attitudes of the respondents toward suicide committed by strangers, loved ones, and social groups under certain circumstances. 28 , 33 The scale is proposed to be applicable across communities in comparative studies of attitudes toward suicide.…”

Initial Validation of the Suicide Competency Assessment Form among Behavioral Health Staff in the National Health Services Trust

“…Existing evidence suggests that suicide and self-harm related attitudes span issues concerning morality of suicide, positive/negative views about suicidal patients or persons who die by suicide, and beliefs about the clinician's own ability to help patients experiencing suicide and self-harm (e.g., Batterham et al, 2013;Botega et al 2005Botega et al , 2007. Researchers have found that behavioral health professionals' attitudes about self-harm and suicide may influence their willingness and ability to identify, assess, and treat high-risk patients (Jiao et al, 2014;Long, Manktelow, & Tracey, 2013). Thus, changing negative attitudes among providers who are likely to encounter individuals at increased risk for suiciderelated behavior suggests a promising intervention point.…”

Suicide among Physicians and Methodological Similarities of MEDLINE/PubMED and BVS/BIREME Open Access Bibliographic Databases: A Systematic Review with Metanalysis

“…They found that although physicians considered suicide as a preventable worldwide public health social issue, they had stigmatized views about the suicidal patient and comprehended such patient less with lower sympathy. Even after filtering sociodemographic characteristics, the analysis remained significant [27].…”