Pitman, AL;
King, MB;
Marston, L;
Osborn, DPJ;
(2020)
The association of loneliness after sudden bereavement with risk of suicide attempt: a nationwide survey of bereaved adults.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
, 55
pp. 1081-1092.
10.1007/s00127-020-01921-w.
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Abstract
Purpose: We aimed to test the hypothesis that among people who experience sudden bereavement, loneliness is associated with post-bereavement suicide attempt and post-bereavement suicidal ideation, even when adjusting for network size. Methods: We analysed cross-sectional data collected in the 2010 UCL Bereavement Study, to identify 3193 respondents who had experienced sudden bereavement. We used multivariable logistic regression to test for an association between loneliness (using a newly-developed eight-item loneliness measure) and post-bereavement suicide attempt and suicidal ideation, adjusting for socio-demographic factors, pre-bereavement depression and self-harm, and network size. Results: Among bereaved adults, loneliness was significantly associated with probability of post-bereavement suicide attempt (AOR 1.19; 95% CI 1.14–1.25) and of post-bereavement suicidal ideation (AOR 1.24; 95% CI 1.20–1.28), with estimates unchanged by adding perceived stigma of the bereavement to adjusted models. There was no association between suicide bereavement and loneliness (adjusted coefficient 0.22; 95% CI − 0.12 to 0.45; p = 0.063). The association of loneliness and suicide attempt risk was similar whether participants were bereaved by suicide or not. Conclusions: People who report feeling lonely after sudden bereavement are more likely to make a suicide attempt after their loss, even when taking into account their network size and the perceived stigma of the sudden bereavement. There is no evidence that the effects of loneliness on suicidality are specific to suicide bereavement. This work identifies loneliness as a potential target for suicide prevention interventions among bereaved people. It also fuels interest in longitudinal research investigating loneliness as a putative mediator of suicide risk.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The association of loneliness after sudden bereavement with risk of suicide attempt: a nationwide survey of bereaved adults |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00127-020-01921-w |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01921-w |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Loneliness, Social isolation, Suicide attempt, Suicidal ideation, Stigma, Bereavement |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Primary Care and Population Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10105925 |
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