Suicide is currently the second leading cause of death among adolescents. Research into gifted adolescent suicide is extremely limited. Investigations in this area are hampered by the infrequent occurrence of gifted adolescnet suicide and other factors such as the stigma attached to suicide. The body of knowledge about gifted adolescent suicide can be increased by utilizing alternative research approaches such as the psychological autopsy, a retrospective approach to studying suicide. The psychological autopsy and its use in studying the suicides of three gifted adolescents are described in this article.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BeskowJ.RunesonB.AsgardU. (1990). Psychological autopsies: Methods and ethics. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 20, 307–323.
2.
BrentD.A.PerperJ.A.KolkoD.J.ZelenakJ.P. (1988). The psychological autopsy: Methodological considerations for the study of adolescent suicide. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 362–266.
3.
BrentD.A.PerperJ.A.MoritzG.AllmanC.FriendA.RothC.SchweersJ.BalachL.BaugherM. (1993). Psychiatric risk factors for adolescent suicide: A case control study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 521–529.
4.
DubersteinP.R.ConwellY.CaineE.D. (1993). Interpersonal stressors, substance abuse, and suicide. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 181, 80–85.
5.
EbertB.W. (1987). Guide to conducting a psychological autopsy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 18, 52–56.
6.
JonesD.R. (1977). Suicide by aircraft: A case report. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 48, 454–459.
7.
LitmanR. E.CurpheyT.ShneidmanE.FarberowN.L.TabachnickN. (1963). Investigations of equivocal death. Journal of the American Medical Association, 184, 924–930.
8.
NeillK.BenensohnH.S.FarberA.N.ResnikH.L.P. (1974). The psychological autopsy: A technique for investigating hospital suicide. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 25, 33–36.
9.
Rotherman-BorusM. J. (1989). Evaluation of suicide risk among youths in community settings. In LannI.S.MoscickiE.K.MarisR. (Eds.), Strategies for studying suicide and suicidal behavior (pp. 108–119). New York: Guilford.
10.
ShafiiM.CarriganS.WhittinghillJ.R.DerrickA. (1985). Psychological autopsy of completed suicide in children and adolescents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 1061–1064.
11.
ShneidmanE.S. (1969). Suicide, lethality, and the psychological autopsy. In ShneidmanE.S.OrtegaM. (Eds.), Aspects of depression (pp. 225–250). Boston: Little, Brown.
12.
ShneidmanE.S. (1981). The psychological autopsy. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 11, 325–340.
13.
ShneidmanE.S.FarberowN.L. (1961). Sample investigations of equivocal deaths. In FarberowN.L.ShneidmanE.S. (Eds.), The cry for help (pp. 118–129). New York: McGraw-Hill.
14.
SoubrierJ.P. (1993). Definitions of suicide. In LeenaarsA. A. (Ed.), Suicidology: Essays in honor of Edwin S. Shneidman (pp. 35–41). Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
