Citation

Davis SE, Williams IS, Hays LW. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2002; 32(1): 51-66.

Affiliation

Prairie View, Inc, Emergency Intervention and Screening Team, Newton, KS 67114-0467, USA. davisse@pvi.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11931011

Abstract

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.