Abstract
Older adults are the developmental age group across the lifespan at highest risk for suicide in many Western countries. Given the extent of the problem, the paucity of integrated and sound empirical research in this area is remarkable. Often the literature attributes the death to one or two variables (e.g., illness). However, a lifespan developmental approach calls for conceptualizing suicide in late adulthood from a multivariate perspective. This paper outlines two studies that were designed to investigate the suicide notes of the elderly in an adult lifespan perspective. The main conclusion is in support of a multivariate approach. There are more similarities than differences in suicide behaviour across the adult lifespan, although some differences were noted. The differences in the elderly appear to be issues of the inability to cope with the vicissitudes of aging (e.g., illness, isolation). It is concluded that future research is warranted.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allport, G. W. (1947). The use of personal documents in psychological science. New York: Social Science Research Council.
Arbeit, S. A., & Blatt, S. J. (1973). Differentiation of simulated and genuine suicide notes. Psychological Reports, 33, 283–297.
Baltes, P. B., Reese, H. W., & Nesselroade, J. R. (1977). Life-span developmental psychology. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Bauer, M. N. (1991). Understanding and differentiating late adulthood suicide within a life-span developmental perspective: Protocol sentence analysis of suicide notes. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International.
Blazer, D. G., Bachar, J. R., & Manton, K. G. (1986). Suicide in late life: Review and commentary. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 34, 519–525.
Clarke, D. C. (1993). Narcissistic crises of aging and suicidal despair. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 23(1), 21–26.
Conwell, Y., Rotenberg, M., & Caine, E. D. (1990). Completed suicide at age 50 and over. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 38, 640–644.
Darbonne, A. R. (1969a). Suicide and age: A suicide note analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33(1), 46–50.
Darbonne, A. R. (1969b). Study of psychological content in the communications of suicidal individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33(5), 590–596.
Erikson, E. H. (1950/1985). Eight ages of man. In (Author). Childhood and society (pp. 247–274). New York: Norton.
Farberow, N. L., & Shneidman, E. S. (1957). Suicide and age. In E. S. Shneidman & N. L. Farberow (Eds.), Clues to suicide (pp. 41–49). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Heim, N., & Lester, D. (1990). Do suicides who write notes differ from those who do not? A study of suicides in West Berlin. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 82, 372–373.
Hendin, H. (1982). Suicide in America. New York: Norton.
Kalish, R. A. (1975). Late adulthood: Perspectives on human development. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Kirsling, R. A. (1986). Review of suicide among elderly persons. Psychological Reports, 59, 359–366.
Kubie, L. S. (1967). Multiple determinants of suicide. In E. S. Shneidman (Ed.), Essays in self-destruction (pp. 455–462). New York: Science House.
Leenaars, A. A. (1987). An empirical investigation of Shneidman's formulations regarding suicide: Age and sex. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 17(3), 233–250.
Leenaars, A. A. (1988). Suicide notes: Predictive clues and patterns. New York: Human Sciences Press.
Leenaars, A. A. (1989a). Are young adult suicides psychologically different than those of other adults? Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 19(3), 249–263.
Leenaars, A. A. (1989b). Suicide across the life-span: An archival study. Crisis, 10(2), 132–151.
Leenaars, A. A. (Ed.). (1991). Life span perspectives of suicide: Time lines in the suicide process. New York: Plenum Press.
Leenaars, A. A. (1992). Suicide notes in the older adult. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 22, 62–79.
Leenaars, A. A. (1995). Suicide and the continental divide. Archives of Suicide Research, 1, 39–58.
Leenaars, A. A., Maris, R., McIntosh, J., & Richman, J. (Eds.). (1992). Suicide and the older adult. New York: Guilford.
Maltsberger, J. T. (1986). Suicide risk: The formulation of clinical judgment. New York: New York University Press.
Marascuilo, L. A., & McSweeney, M. (1977). Nonparametric and distribution-free methods for the social sciences. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Maris, R. W. (1981). Pathways to suicide: A survey of self-destructive behaviors. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
McIntosh, J. L. (1985). Suicide among the elderly: Levels and trends. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55(2), 288–293.
McIntosh, J. L. (1992). Older adults: The next suicide epidemic? Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 22(3), 322–332.
Meehan, P. J., Saltzman, L. E., & Sattin, R. W. (1991). Suicides among older adult United States residents: Epidemiologic characteristics and trends. American Journal of Public Health, 81(9), 1198–1200.
Miller, M. (1979). Suicide after sixty: The final alternative. New York: Springer.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1990). Annual summary of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths: United States, 1989. NCHS Monthly Vital Statistics Report, 38(13), Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service.
Neugarten, B. L. (1979). Time, age, and the life cycle. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 887–894.
Osgood, N. J. (1992). Suicide in later life: Recognizing the warning signs. New York: Lexington Books.
Richman, J. (1992). Preventing elderly suicide: Overcoming personal despair, professional neglect, and social bias. New York: Springer.
Runyan, W. M. (1983). Idiographic goals and methods in the study of lives. Journal of Personality, 51(3), 413–437.
Shneidman, E. S. (1985). Definition of suicide. New York: Wiley.
Shneidman, E. S., & Farberow, N. L. (1957). Clues to suicide. In E. S. Shneidman & N. L. Farberow (Eds.), Clues to suicide (pp. 3–10). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shulman, K. (1978). Suicide and parasuicide in old age: A review. Age and Ageing, 7, 201–209.
Siegel, S. (1956). Nonparametric statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Siegel, S., & Castellan, N. J. (1988). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences (2nd edn.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
Smith, K., & Maris, R. (1986). Suggested recommendations for the study of suicide and other life-threatening behaviors. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 16(1), 67–69.
Spiegel, D. E., & Neuringer, C. (1963). Role of dread in suicidal behavior. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66(5), 507–511.
Tuckman, J., Kleiner, R. J., & Lavell, M. (1959). Emotional content of suicide notes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 59–63.
Tuckman, J., Kleiner, R. J., & Lavell, M. (1960). Credibility of suicide notes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 117, 1104–1106.
Webb, E. J., Campbell, D. T., Schwartz, R. D., & Sechrest, L. (1966). Archives II: The episodic and private record. In (Authors). Unobtrusive measures: Nonreactive research in the social sciences (pp. 88–111). Chicago: Rand McNally.
Weisman, A. (1991). Vulnerability and suicidality in the aged. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(2), 191–201.
Wilkinson, L. (1989). SYSTAT: The system for statistics for the PC (Version 4.0). Evanston, IL: SYSTAT.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BAUER, M.N., LEENAARS, A.A., BERMAN, A.L. et al. Late adulthood suicide: A life-span analysis of suicid enotes. Archives of Suicide Research 3, 91–108 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009674401616
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009674401616