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Psychiatric Inpatients' Perceptions of Written No‐Suicide Agreements: An Exploratory Study
Author(s) -
Davis Steven E.,
Williams Ivan S.,
Hays Larry W.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1521/suli.32.1.51.22180
Subject(s) - helpfulness , generalizability theory , psychiatry , psychology , exploratory research , suicide prevention , suicide attempt , perception , clinical psychology , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , medicine , social psychology , medical emergency , developmental psychology , neuroscience , sociology , anthropology
One hundred thirty‐five psychiatric inpatients admitted for suicidal danger were surveyed regarding their views on the benefits/limitations of written no‐suicide agreements. A survey instrument developed for this study revealed that these inpatients, for the most part, rated written no‐suicide agreements in a positive manner and in ways consistent with clinical opinion expressed in a number of qualitative/expert‐opinion articles. Positive views of no‐suicide agreements were not materially influenced by social desirability or age, nor were they moderated by gender, presence/absence of Axis II disorders, or admission suicidal danger. However, patient suicide attempt history (no attempts, one attempt, or more than one attempt) exerted a moderating effect on patients' ratings of the helpfulness of these contracts. Multiple attempters viewed written no‐suicide agreements as less helpful than those patients with a single or no prior attempts. The methodological problems and generalizability concerns associated with these results are discussed and future research needs are suggested.