Spouses bereaved by suicide : A population-based longitudinal cohort comparison of physician-diagnosed mental disorders and hospitalized suicide attempts

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved..

BACKGROUND: This study compares a longitudinal population-based sample of spouses bereaved by suicide and those bereaved by other sudden deaths to determine if suicide-bereaved spouses (SBS) experience greater rates of physician-diagnosed mental disorders.

METHODS: First, married individuals whose spouse died by suicide, sudden natural death (SND) and unintentional injury (UI) were compared to non-bereaved matched cohorts to determine if there were differences in mental disorder rates between bereavement groups and non-bereaved matches. Second, SBS (n = 365), spouses bereaved by SND (n = 1000), and spouses bereaved by UI (n = 270), were compared using inverse probability treatment weighting and generalized estimating equations to calculate relative rates of mental disorders 5 years before/after death.

OUTCOMES: All bereaved cohorts had higher rates of mental disorders compared to non-bereaved cohorts. SBS had the greatest rate of depression post-bereavement (50·96%), followed by UI (38·52%) and SND (33·70%) spouses. When comparing bereavement cohorts, a significant group-by-time interaction (P = 0·047) revealed the rate change for depression was significantly different between suicide and UI-bereaved spouses, with SBS having higher rates of depression before bereavement. SBS had increased rates of any mental disorder both pre (ARR = 1·35, 95% CI = 1·03-1·18, P<·05) and post spousal death (ARR = 1·24, 95% CI = 1·03-1·45, P<·05) when compared to UI spouses signifying pre-existing mental disorders. Post-bereavement, SBS had greater rates of depression only when compared to SND-bereaved spouses (ARR = 1·31, 95% CI = 1·10-1·55, P<·01).

INTERPRETATION: SBS have the greatest rates of depression and any mental disorder before the death of their spouse, suggesting suicide bereavement may be unique. Sudden spousal bereavement is a vulnerable time for mental disorders.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2020

Erschienen:

2020

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:130

Enthalten in:

Journal of psychiatric research - 130(2020) vom: 15. Nov., Seite 347-354

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Spiwak, Rae [VerfasserIn]
Elias, Brenda [VerfasserIn]
Sareen, Jitender [VerfasserIn]
Chartier, Mariette [VerfasserIn]
Katz, Laurence Y [VerfasserIn]
Bolton, James M [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 14.05.2021

Date Revised 14.05.2021

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.07.028

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM314554432