Gender differences in suicide-related communication of young suicide victims

Abstract

Objectives There is limited insight into gender differences in suicide-related communication (SRC) in youths. SRC is defined as “the act of conveying one’s own suicide ideation, intent or behaviours to another person”. Increasing our understanding of SRC in youths will enable us to recognize and specify needs of female versus male youths. The current study explores SRC in a sample of Dutch suicide victims aged under 20 and examines gender differences. Methods Interview data from a psychological autopsy study of 35 youths who died by suicide in the Netherlands in 2017 were analysed. Qualitative analyses were performed to examine explicit SRC throughout the youths’ lives and implicit SRC during the last months prior to suicide. We employed the Constant Comparative Method to explore patterns in the debut, form, frequency, medium, content, type of recipient, and SRC in the last months prior to suicide death. Results We identified commonalities in the SRC of youths, including the content of suicide notes and an emphasis on suicide method and preparation in the last months. Girls, however, had an earlier debut of SRC, a higher frequency of explicit SRC, and more often directed SRC towards varied types of recipients compared to boys. Moreover, SRC of girls seemed focused on coping and achieving support from others more than SRC of boys. The SRC of boys in comparison to girls was often ambiguous or diluted by “humorous” connotations. Conclusion Unique patterns in SRC of boys and girls posed corresponding challenges for next of kin to interpret communications and respond adequately to SRC. The early debut of girls’ SRC highlights the importance of early screening and prevention efforts in girls, while the late debut and ambiguity in boys’ SRC implores professionals and next of kin to encourage young males to be unequivocal about suicide ideation or intent.

The Use of Close Friends on Instagram, Help-Seeking Willingness, and Suicidality Among Hong Kong Youth: Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

“…A higher acceptance rate was found on Instagram among adolescents for distress expression, owing to its advanced privacy settings [ 58 ]. The gender differences identified were in line with what was found in the majority of previous studies [ 59 , 60 ]. Interestingly, students from Band 1 schools used Close Friends more often, which contradicted the findings of most prior studies, where social media usage had little or a negative association with academic performance [ 61 , 62 ].…”

The Potential Impact of Adjunct Digital Tools and Technology to Help Distressed and Suicidal Men: An Integrative Review

“…A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) found self-guided digital interventions are effective for directly targeting individuals’ suicidal ideation (immediately after post-intervention) ( Torok et al, 2020 ). An emerging indication of a late debut and ambiguous presentation of suicide-related communication in boys led to the suggestion for future research to explore online suicide-related communication and the potential for suicide prevention on digital platforms ( Balt et al, 2021 ). To our knowledge, there is no literature specifically focusing on gender differences in the efficacy of digital assistance in suicide prevention.…”

Gender-Specific Aspects of Suicide-Related Communication in a High Risk Sample of Psychiatric Inpatients

“…Those young men communicate at a later stage and less clearly than young women who died by suicide. Compared to girls, SRC by boys was more ambiguous or diluted by "humorous" connotations [32].…”

“…It was difficult for recipients to assess the intent, meaning and relevance of the statements [30,31]. Balt et al [32] address gender differences in SRC. Again, these data relate to a psychological autopsy study and interviews with relatives of young men and women who have died by suicide.…”