Validation of a French questionnaire assessing knowledge of suicide

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to develop and validate the Knowledge of Suicide Scale (KSS), elaborated to assess adherence to myths about suicide.

METHODS

The KSS is a self-questionnaire including 22 statements relating to myths about suicide for which the respondent is asked to rate his degree of adherence on a scale ranging from 0 ("strongly disagree") to 10 ("completely agree"). Using the script concordance test scoring method, the respondents' scores were compared with those of experts to obtain, for each item, a score between 0 (maximum deviation with the experts) and 1 (minimum deviation with the experts). One thousand and thirty-five individuals (222 psychiatric interns, 332 medical interns in the first semester excluding psychiatry and 481 journalism students) were included.

RESULTS

According to the exploratory factor analysis, the KSS is a two-dimensional scale: the first subscale includes 15 items and the second seven items. The tool showed excellent face validity, correct convergent and divergent validities (multi-method multi-feature analyzes), and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient between 0.66 and 0.83 for scales and subscales). The KSS is moderately and negatively correlated with the Stigma of Suicide Scale (r=-0.3). It significantly discriminates groups with different expected levels of knowledge regarding suicide (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The KSS demonstrated good psychometric properties to measure adherence to myths about suicide. This tool could be useful in assessing the effectiveness of suicide prevention literacy improvement programs.

Adversity Over the Life Course: A Comparison Between Women and Men Who Died by Suicide

Purpose: This study sets out to compare the presence of life events across different domains throughout the life course which may contribute to the burden of adversity experienced differently among men and women who died by suicide. Method: In a sample of 303 individuals (213 men and 90 women), data was derived from extensive clinical interviews conducted with informants. Models allowed the identification of patterns of life trajectories. Results: Overall, the burden of adversity was similar across the life course except for the 5-9, 25-29, and 30-34 age ranges, where a significant difference appeared between genders [t-test = 2.13 (p < 0.05), 2.16 (p < 0.05) and 3.08 (p < 0.005), respectively] that seems to disadvantage women. The early adversities of violence and neglect, between 0 and 19 years old, are important for both groups. During the life course, women were more exposed to interpersonal adverse events such as being victims of negligence and violence, relational difficulties or abuse from their spouse, as well as tension with their own children. Men encountered more academic difficulties, legal entanglements and financial difficulties, and were more than three times more likely to develop an alcohol/drug abuse problem than women. Conclusions: The data suggests some gender differences in exposure to longstanding and severe life problems contributing to suicide vulnerability. For women, the continuing burden emerges from chronic interpersonal adversities, whereas, for men, the adverse events are to a larger degree socially exposed, compounded with alcohol misuse. The adversities, especially those of a public or social nature, may be witnessed by others, which should favor the detection of vulnerability over the life course, and psychosocial or mental health services should be offered and provided earlier during the life course. Yet more men die by suicide than women. Resiliency and protective factors may benefit women to a greater degree. Future research should tackle the challenge of investigating these important elements. Meanwhile, from a public health perspective, access to psychosocial and mental health services and social acceptability of seeking services should be part of an ongoing effort in all institutional structures as a way of decreasing downstream mental health problems and vulnerability to suicide.

[Suicide prevention after a suicide attempt: how to stay in touch?]

Suicide prevention after a suicide attempt: how to stay in touch? Attempted suicide is a major risk factor of further re-attempts and death. Self-harm behaviors are related to multiple causes, explaining why it is ineffective to have a single and simple strategy to offer after the clinical assessment in reducing morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, treatment adherence is known to be especially poor, in a context where social connection seems compromised and source of pain. Effective interventions can be divided into two categories: intensive intervention programs (care at home, supported by a series of brief psychotherapy interventions) and, case management programs that rely on a "stay in contact" dimension(letters, telephone, sms, mail, etc.). A prevention algorithm was further proposed to routine care in 2015, in the northern departments of France, Nord et Pas-de-Calais (4.3 million people), taking the name of VigilanS. The inclusion consists in sending a form for every patient assessed after a suicide attempt in the two departments to the medical staff of VigilanS, in order to provide information about the patient and the context of his suicide attempt. The algorithm consist in giving crisis card to all the patients; an information letter, explaining the aim of the monitoring is also given to the patient, and to his general practitioner. The calling staff is composed of4 nurses and 4 psychologists, all trained in suicidal crisis management. They use a phone platform located in the Emergency Medical Assistance Service (SAMU) of the Nord department, and manage the incoming calls from the patients, plus the outgoing calls towards the patients, their relatives and their medical contacts. A set of 4 postcards (1 per month) can be sent if needed incase of an inconclusive or a failed phone call. Built on a monitoring philosophy, VigilanS has further developd a real crisis case management dimension, requiring enough time to insure an effective medical supervision, and strong networking abilities. A specific time is also needed to take care of all the technical aspects of the organization. We measured the evolution of the number of suicide attempts before and after implantation of VigilanS: we found an acceleration of the reduction of stay for suicide attempt in Nord et Pas-de-Calais after 2014(-16% instead of -6%), instead of the two Picardy departments the most comparable show a degradation of the phenomenon (+13%). The system is currently being deployed across France.