Abstract
Suicide is a multidimensional event. To understand this complexity, psychological theory is needed, which is often lacking in current research. This archival study, utilizing 60 suicide notes from across the adult life span, examines models of suicide. An attempt to replicate a previous model (1989) failed to account best for the current data and an alternative theoretical model is provided. Yet, this result should be expected, not only because psychological theory has to be open-ended to define an event, but also because empirical methods for theory construction (such as cluster analysis in this study) are not simply result seeking but are result imposing. Nevertheless, the present study strongly supported an adult life span perspective. Young adults continue to show the greatest amount of differences in their suicide; for examples, higher levels of psychopathology, lower levers of ego strength and a poorer ability to cope with life's demands, e.g., intimacy vs. isolation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldenderfer, M. & Blashfield, R. (1984). Cluster analysis. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Allport, G. (1942). The use of personal documents in psychological science. New York: Social Science Research Council.
Benjafield, J. (1991). The end of development. In A. Leenaars (Ed.), Life span perspectives of suicide (pp. 3-15). New York: Plenum.
Bjerg, K. (1967). The suicidal life span: Attempts at a reconstruction from suicide notes. In E. Shneidmen (Ed.), Essays in self-destruction (pp. 475-493). New York: Science House.
Cantor, C., Leenaars, A., Lester, D., Slatter, P., Wolanski, A. & O'Toole, B. (196). Suicide trends in eight predominantly English-speaking countries (1960–1989). Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemology, 31, 364-373.
Carnap, R. (1959). Psychology in physical language. In A. Ayer (Ed.), Logical positivism (pp. 165-208). New York: Free Press (original published in 1931).
Colarusso, C. & Nemiroff, R. (1981). Adult development. New York: Plenum.
Darbonne, A. (1969). Suicide and age: A suicide note analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33, 46-50.
Erikson, E. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd edn.) New York: W. W. Norton.
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W. W. Norton.
Freud, S. (1974). Mourning and melancholia. In J. Strachey (Ed. and Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. XIV (pp. 239-260). London: Hogarth Press (original published in 1917).
Freud, S. (1974). A case of homosexuality in a woman. Ibid., Vol. XVIII (pp. 147-172) (original published in 1920).
Freud, S. (1974). Group psychology and the analysis of the ego. Ibid., Vol. XVIII (pp. 67-147) (original published in 1921).
Friedman, P. (Ed.) (1967). On suicide. New York: International Universities Press (original published in 1910).
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis. New York: Harper & Row.
Hawton, K. (1998). Why has suicide increased in young adults? Crisis, 19, 119-124.
Heidbreder, E. (1933). Seven psychologies. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Heidegger, M. (1962). In J. Macquairie and E. Robinson (Trans.), Being and time. New York: Harper & Row.
Hempel, C. (1966). Philosophy of natural sciences. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Henken, V. (1976). Banality reinvestigated: A computer-based content analysis of suicidal and forced death documents. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 6, 36-43.
Husserl, E. (1973). In W. Alston & G. Nokhnikian (Trans.), The idea of phenomenology. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff (original work published in 1907).
Jacobs, J. (1971). A phenomenological study of suicide notes. In E. Geddens (Ed.), The sociology of suicide (pp. 332-348). London: Frank Cass.
James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Kerlinger, F. (1964). Foundations of behavioral science. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc.
Kimmel, D. (1974). Adulthood and aging. New York: Wiley.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Leenaars, A. (1988). Suicide notes. New York: Human Sciences Press.
Leenaars, A. (1989a). Suicide across the adult life span: An archival study. Crisis, 10, 132-151.
Leenaars, A. (1989b). Are young adults' suicides psychologically different from those of other adults? (The Shneidman Lecture). Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 19, 249-263.
Leenaars, A. (1990). Do the psychological characteristics of the suicidal individual make a difference in the method chosen for suicide? Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 22, 385-392.
Leenaars, A. (Ed.) (1991). Life span perspectives of suicide. New York: Plenum.
Leenaars, A. (1996). Suicide: A multidimensional malaise. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 26, 221-236.
Leenaars, A. (1997). Rick: A suicide of a young adult. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 26, 221-236.
Leenaars, A. & Balance, W. (1984). A logical empirical approach to the study of the manifest content in suicide notes. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 16, 248-256.
Leenaars, A., De Leo, D., Diekstra, R., Goldney, R., Kelleher, M., Lester, D. & Nordstrom, P. (1997). Consultations for research in suicidology. Archives of Suicide Research, 3, 139-151.
Lester, D. (1992). Why people kill themselves, 3rd edn. Springfield, IL: C. C. Thomas.
Maris, R. (1981). Pathways to suicide. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press.
McGinnis, J. (1987). Suicide in America — Moving up the public health agenda. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour, 17, 18-32.
Menninger, K. (1938). Man against himself. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Murray, H. (1967). Death to the world: The passions of Herman Melville. In E. Shneidman (Ed.), Essays in self-destruction (pp. 3-290). New York: Science House.
Neuringer, C. (1976). Current developments in the study of suicidal thinking. In E. Shneidman (Ed.), Suicidology: Contemporary developments (pp. 229-252). New York: Grune and Stratton.
Osgood, C. & Walker, E. (1959). Motivation and language behavior: A content analysis of suicide notes. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 58-67.
Runyan, W. (1982). In defense of the case study method. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52, 440-446.
Sakinofsky, I. & Leenaars, A. (1997). Suicide in Canada with special reference to the difference between Canada and the United States. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour, 27, 112-116.
S.A.S. Institute Inc. (1995). SAS users guide; statistics. Gary, N.C.: S.A.S. Institute Inc.
Shneidman, E. (1980). Voices of death. New York: Harper & Row.
Shneidman, E. (1985). Definition of suicide. New York: Wiley.
Shneidman, E. (1991). The commonalities of suicide across the life span. In A. Leenaars (Ed.), Life span perspectives of suicide (pp. 39-52). New York: Plenum.
Shneidman, E. (1993). Suicide as psychache. Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
Shneidman, E. & Farberow, N. (1957). Clues to suicide. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Siegel, S. (1956). Nonparametric statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Sullivan, H. (1962). Schizophrenia as a human process. In H. Perry, N. Gorvell & M. Gibbens (Eds.), The collected works of Harry Stack Sullivan, Vol. II. New York: W. W. Norton.
Sullivan, H. (1964). The fusion of psychiatry and social sciences. N. Gorvell & M. Gibbens (Eds.), The collected works of Harry Stack Sullivan Ibid., Vol. II.
Tripodes, P. (1976). Reasoning patterns in suicide notes. In E. Shneidman (Ed.), Suicidology: Contemporary developments (pp. 203-228). New York: Grune and Stratton.
Wagner, F. (1960). Suicide notes. Danish Medical Journal, 7, 62-64.
Wolff, H. (1931). Suicide notes. American Mercury, 24, 264-272.
Zilboorg, G. (1936). Suicide among civilized and primitive races. American Journal of Psychiatry, 92, 1347-1369.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leenaars, A.A. Suicide across the adult life span: Replications and failures. Archives of Suicide Research 5, 263–276 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009633716276
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009633716276