Abstract
Although suicide clusters have been identified in many populations, research exploring the role of online communication in the aftermath of a suicide cluster is extremely limited. This study used the Consensual Qualitative Research method to analyze interviews with ten high school students 1 year after a suicide cluster in a small suburban school district. Interviewee’s responses were organized into four domains: The Suicide, Impact, Perceptions of School Environment, and Recovery. The role of social networking emerged as a common theme across domains, suggesting broad relevance to adolescents’ experience following the suicide of a peer. Implications for clinical intervention, research, and school policies in the response to student suicides are discussed.
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Acknowledgments
This study was the dissertation research of the first author and part of a larger project conducted with the second author. We are grateful to the participants for their cooperation and to the research assistants who contributed to the project, including Megan Guinn, Michelle Young, Erica Sheley, Stephanie Martinez, and Erin Phillips.
The school district’s superintendent and the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved all research procedures. Researchers obtained parental consent and adolescent assent before participation.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Appendix 1—Qualitative Interview
Appendix 1—Qualitative Interview
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1.
How did you first find out about the suicides at (high school name) last year?
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How did you learn about the details of the student(s) death(s)?***
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2.
What were your initial feelings?
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How has that changed over the past year?
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3.
In coping with your loss(es), what have you found helpful?
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What interactions have been helpful?
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4.
What hindered your recovery?
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5.
What do you remember about the school environment after the suicide(s)?
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6.
How did social networking (i.e., Facebook) help or hinder your recovery?
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Were you friends with any of the students on Facebook?
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Did you visit any of their FB pages after they died?
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How soon?
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What for?
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When was the last time you looked at that FB page?
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How did the posts on the FB page impact you?
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Do you remember any specific posts?
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7.
How do you think the posts on Facebook impacted the school environment at ______?
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8.
What has been the hardest thing for you since the student(s) death?
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Did you attend any of the student’s funeral(s)?
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9.
How has your life been affected by this death?
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School? Grades?
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Relationships with friends? Family?
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View on life? Spirituality?
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Think about death? Suicide?
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(Want positive and negative aspects)
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(Probe for emotions)
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10.
Have there been any positive things that happened as a result of this death?
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11.
Is there anything that you think is important for me to know that I have not asked?
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12.
As we talk, has this brought up a new awareness for you, or anything unexpected?
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Heffel, C.J., Riggs, S.A., Ruiz, J.M. et al. The Aftermath of a Suicide Cluster in the Age of Online Social Networking: a Qualitative Analysis of Adolescent Grief Reactions. Contemp School Psychol 19, 286–299 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-015-0060-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-015-0060-z